Two Broken Hearts
by XashXdawnX
Summary: After the death of his wife, Ash Ketchum moves to Sinnoh with his son to start a new life. There, he meets Dawn Berlitz, who recently divorced her husband, leaving her alone with her daughter. Can the two of them mend each others' broken hearts and find happiness once more?
1. Chapter 1

**XashXdawnX – Hey! New story idea and once again I have PokemonFreak90 helping me with it. We hope you like this story as much as you like our other stories.**

**PokemonFreak90 - Hi there! Welcome to our new story. And thank you, XashXdawnX for letting me help with the story. We hope you enjoy!**

**Backstory: This story is AU, so here's what's changed:**

**When Ash first traveled to Sinnoh in the anime, Team Rocket didn't capture Pikachu, so Pikachu wasn't found in the forest by Dawn, so Ash and Dawn never met. Ash traveled across Sinnoh with Brock only, and Dawn traveled across Sinnoh by herself. However, both of them still achieved their goals over the years. Ash became a Pokemon Master and Dawn became a Top Coordinator. Eventually, they got married (not to each other!), and had children. Ash had a son named Alex, and Dawn had a daughter named Julia. But six years later, Ash's wife was killed. At around the same time, Dawn's husband divorced her. Both Ash and Dawn were heartbroken and were now left alone to raise their children. A year after his wife's death, Ash and his son left Pallet Town and moved away to Twinleaf Town in Sinnoh, hoping to get a new start.**

**Disclaimer- ****Disclaimer: All rights for Pokémon and its respective trademarks go to Satoshi Tajiri, Nintendo, Game Freak, et al.**

* * *

A moving van pulled into Twinleaf Town and pulled in front of a small white house with a porch and a wooden fence around it. The doors opened and three people hopped out; one being a child, another was a young man, and the last one being the worker. The worker walked to the back of the truck and opened the doors. Two more workers hopped out and the three workers started unloading the boxes.

The young man had black hair that was wild, dark brown eyes, and he was tanned. He wore jeans and a button up light blue shirt with boots. He removed a key from his pocket and unlocked the door.

"Here's the new house, Alex." he said.

The child known as Alex looked just like his dad. He had black hair that fell into his eyes, dark eyes that were basically black, and he was tanned. He wore white shorts and a black shirt with black sneakers. "Okay. I'm gonna go look around."

"We're done unloading everything, Mr. Ketchum." one of the workers said.

"Thanks, how much?" the man asked as a yellow mouse Pokemon hopped on his shoulder.

"One hundred exactly, Ash." another worker said.

Ash nodded his head and handed the money to the worker.

"Thank you,"

"We hope you enjoy living here in Sinnoh." The workers got back into the van and they were gone.

"What do you think, Pikachu?" Ash asked, rubbing his partner on the head as they looked at the house.

"Chaaa!" Pikachu seemed to like it.

Ash walked into the house to look around. The hall was fairly decent, it would need things on the walls, though. Next was the living room. After the living room was the kitchen with a back door. He walked back to the living room and found the hall and that was where the bathroom was along with his room and Alex's room.

"Hey Alex, we have to get the boxes in now." Ash said once finding Alex.

"Okay, dad." Alex said following his dad.

Ash found his bag and grabbed a Pokeball. "Machamp, come on out." Ash said, tossing the Pokeball.

"Ma!" Machamp cried.

"Think you can help carry the bigger things inside?" Ash asked.

"Ma!" Machamp cried, grabbing a gray couch.

It took nearly all day, but after getting everything into the house and unpacked, the house looked like a home. The living room had gray and black furniture. A black couch, two gray chairs, a desk with a laptop resting on it, and a television had been hung up on the wall.

Ash's room was simple. Black sheets covering the bed, a closet with his clothes put up, a nightstand made of oak beside the bed, and a bathroom connected to his room.

Alex's room was the bigger bedroom since he had toys and other things. He had a Pokeball beanbag chair in the corner of his room, a desk by the window with a photo of him and his parents resting on it, his bed was pushed against the wall with white and red sheets. Along the walls, he had hung up posters of his dad (since his dad was his idol), and Pokemon posters in general. He had shelves with videos of his dad's battles, too. A television hung in the corner opposite of the beanbag chair.

"Where are your Pokemon gonna stay? Uncle Gary's field at the lab isn't here anymore." Alex asked, sitting down on the floor in the living room. Alex had called Gary, "Uncle Gary" because Gary was always around. Gary was actually Alex's godfather.

"Well, the backyard is too small. I'm going to talk to Professor Rowan tomorrow and see if they could stay in his field at his lab." Ash replied.

"Oh, okay. Hey dad?"

"Hmm?"

"Will we ever see Uncle Gary again?"

"Maybe...one day." he said with a sad look on his face. Ash didn't really want to back to Pallet Town. Too many memories there. Not all of them were good.

"Can we watch one of your battles?" Alex asked, jumping up.

Ash nodded his head and Alex ran to his room. Pikachu ran into the room and hopped onto Ash's lap.

"Hey, buddy." Ash said, rubbing Pikachu's head.

"Cha..."

Ash glanced down at his hand and clenched it. Alex walked back in and placed the video in.

"Which one is this?" Ash asked.

"From right here in the Sinnoh Region. It's when you won the Sinnoh League." Alex said, plopping down beside his dad. Ash nodded his head and the video began.

Halfway into the video, there was a knock on the door. "I got it. You watch the video." Ash said, getting up. "Who could that be? We don't know anybody here in town, and we only moved in this morning."

He walked to the front door and opened it. A young woman and a girl stood on the porch. The woman had long sapphire blue hair that reached to her lower back and sapphire blue eyes to match, and she was fair skinned. She wore white shorts, a pink top, and white flip flops. The girl beside her looked just like her except her eyes were silver and her hair was to her shoulders. She wore a jean skirt, a black top, and black boots to her knees.

"Hi!" the girl cried.

Ash smiled and said, "Hi" back.

"I'm Dawn Berlitz, your neighbor. We live in the house across the street from yours." the woman known as Dawn greeted.

"I'm Julia." the girl said, smiling to reveal that her left front tooth was missing.

"Nice to meet you both. I'm Ash Ketchum." Ash greeted.

"Yes, we know." said Dawn. "As the Pokemon Master, you're known all over the world, Master Ketchum."

Ash smiled awkwardly at her, since she had addressed him by his title. "Just 'Ash', thanks." he told her.

"Hey dad w-" Alex started as he approached the door, but then saw Dawn and Julia.

"Come introduce yourself to our new neighbors." Ash said.

Alex walked up and stood beside his dad. "My name is Alex." Alex greeted.

"I'm Dawn Berlitz," Dawn greeted.

"I'm Julia!" Julia cried. Then, she got a idea. "Mommy, I have to tell you something!"

Dawn smiled and knelt down to Julia's level. Julia whispered something to her mom. Dawn nodded her head and whispered something back to Julia, and then stood up. "Julia, insists that our new neighbors join us for supper." Dawn said.

"I don't want to bother you two." Ash said.

"It's completely fine. I was going to make pasta and usually, it goes to waste. We never finish all of it." Dawn said.

"I...I don't know..." Ash said, unsure.

"Please, Mr. Ash?" Julia asked.

"Come on, dad. You like pasta." Alex said, wanting to go.

"Sure, why not." Ash said, clearly seeing that he was outnumbered here.

"Yay!" Julia cried.

"You two can over at around six." Dawn said.

"Okay. Thank you, Dawn." Ash said.

"No problem. See you two later and nice to meet you both." Dawn said.

"Bye, Mr. Ash. Bye, Alex. It was nice to meet you." Julia said.

"Bye, and nice to meet you." Ash said.

"Bye," Alex said.

Dawn and Julia stepped off the porch and started walking to their house. Ash closed the door and looked at Alex.

"We just made some new friends! Right, dad?" he asked.

"I think so, Alex." Ash replied.

Ash grabbed Alex by his waist and slung him over his shoulder. "Ah! Put me down! Put me down!" Alex cried, laughing. Ash walked towards the living room feeling Alex hit his back with his fists. "Put me down!" Alex cried.

Ash dropped Alex onto the couch and he nearly fell off. His face was red since his blood rushed to his head.

"You know, Alex, you're supposed to keep your head up so the blood doesn't go to your head." Ash said, chuckling.

"I know,"

The two finished watching the video. After the video ended, they sat watching some TV. Six o'clock came soon and the two headed over to Dawn's house.

Alex knocked on the door of the white two story house. The door opened and Julia stood there. "Hi! Come on in! Mommy, Mr. Ash and Alex are here!" she cried.

Julia lead them into the living room. The furniture was red and white. A fireplace was in the middle of the wall, a television was hanging on the wall, two white couches, two red chairs, and a table were in the room.

The house smelled like a type of fruit and Ash spotted a candle burning. Julia lead them into the kitchen and Dawn was getting the food set out. "It's ready, so take a seat." she said.

Alex went towards the table and Julia walked over, too. Ash helped Dawn prepare the plates.

"Thanks," she said to him.

Once the four finished eating, the two kids ran to Julia's room.

"I'm glad he's made a friend, being new here and all." Ash said, helping Dawn with the dishes. Dawn had insisted that she could wash the dishes by herself, but eventually gave in Ash's generosity.

"Yeah, I'm glad Julia has a friend, too. She doesn't have many friends." Dawn said.

Ash nodded his head. The two traveled to the living room and sat talking to one another after finishing the dishes.

"So you're really the Pokemon Master?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah, it was my dream as a kid and it came true when I traveled." Ash said.

"I recognize your name from the news and newspapers."

"I know your name, too. You're a Top Pokemon Coordinator, right?"

"Yep, it was my dream. It came true."

"I've seen some contests that you've been in. I saw the contest where you were in the Sinnoh Grand Festival when I was traveling here across the region for my gym badges."

"Yeah, that's where it all began."

A silence fell over the two.

"So where did you and Alex move from?" Dawn asked.

"From Pallet Town in Kanto." Ash replied.

"I hear that's a small town like Twinleaf."

"Yes, it is a small town. It's peaceful, though."

"Moving all the way here from Kanto is a very long move. What made you leave and come to live here?" Dawn then noticed that a grief-stricken expression came over Ash's face. She could see that she had intruded into something personal in Ash's life. Mustn't have been a happy memory. She decided to drop the subject. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry. I understand if you don't want to talk about it."

Changing the subject, Dawn asked, "So how old is Alex?"

"He's seven years old and he's in the second grade." Ash replied, regaining his composure.

"Wow, Julia's the same. She's seven and in second grade, too."

"What are some good schools around here? Since they're already friends, maybe they could go to school together."

* * *

Julia and Alex were in Julia's room. Julia's room was on the second floor. The walls were purple with a white fluffy carpet. Her bed was covered with purple sheets. She had a computer on a desk in the far corner.

"That's gross!" Julia cried, laughing.

"No, it's actually good." Alex said.

"That sounds nasty!"

"You should try it, it's good."

"No, that's ruining a good milkshake and good fries."

Alex had some very strange ideas when it came to meal combinations, like dipping fries in a milkshake. He had a big appetite like Ash.

"Do you like sports?" he asked. "I play hockey and basketball."

"I love sports. Not very many girls in my grade like them, though. And the boys won't let me play with them. They say that I'm not good enough." Julia replied.

"Well, if I go to the school you go to, I'll let you play with me."

"Really? Cool!"

After an hour or so at the Berlitz household, Ash decided they needed to get home.

"Thanks for letting us come over." Ash said.

"You're welcome." Dawn said. "Come back any time you want."

"Alex, lets go!" Ash cried, not wanting to wander around, trying to find where Alex was.

Alex sat up after hearing his dad yell. "Well, I gotta go." he said, frowning.

"Yeah, I guess so." Julia said.

Alex stood up and held out his hand. "Friends?" he asked.

Julia hopped off her bed and shook her head, "No." Alex looked slightly hurt until Julia smiled. "BEST friends!" she cried, hugging him goodbye.

"Okay, Okay! Best friends it is! You don't need to hug me!" Alex exclaimed. He didn't really like being hugged by anybody except his dad.

Alex walked downstairs and found his dad and Dawn. "Bye, and thank you for letting us come over." Alex said, bowing his head.

"Bye, and you're welcome." Dawn said.

The two left the house and went home.

* * *

**So what lies in store for Ash and Alex now that they live in Twinleaf Town? Keep reading to find out next time.**

**Stay tuned for chapter two when Alex begins life at his new school.**

**Please R&R**


	2. Chapter 2

**We noticed that some of you the readers have suggested some ideas. We would like you to either leave a review or PM any ideas that you have. We'll make your ideas/suggestions come to life. The more suggestions the long this story will go on. Now enjoy chapter 2! **

**Disclaimer: All rights for Pokémon and its respective trademarks go to Satoshi Tajiri, Nintendo, Game Freak, et al.**

* * *

Ash woke up at five-thirty so he could be awake and ready since he had to wake Alex up at six exactly. Thanks to Dawn, Ash was able to find a good school for Alex to go to. That school being Twinleaf Elementary, the school Julia was going to. Ash was glad that Alex would have a friend on the first day.

He glanced at the clock to see that it was six already. He walked to Alex's room to find Alex already awake, sitting on his bed looking at the picture that was normally on his desk. Ash frowned and walked over to Alex and sat down on his bed.

"Hey, buddy." he said to his son, putting his hand on his back.

Alex glanced at his dad. "It's weird...today is my first day at my new school and she's not here. I miss her." he said softly, looking at the picture of the three of them. It was the last picture they had taken together before she died.

"Yeah, me too." Ash hugged Alex, knowing that Alex was still sad about what had happened and he couldn't fully understand what exactly happened or he chose not to.

"Well, it's time to get ready. What do you want for breakfast?" Ash asked, standing up.

Alex smiled a little at the question of food. "Bacon!" he cried.

Ash chuckled. Alex was obsessed with bacon.

"With what?"

"Toast?"

"Okay then. Bacon and toast it is." Ash said, walking out of the room.

Alex hopped off his bed and put the picture back on the desk once again. He walked to his closet and grabbed some random clothes. Alex walked out into the kitchen dressed in jeans, a silver pullover shirt, and black sneakers. He walked over and took the plate from his dad and sat at the table.

"Dad, do you think my first day will be good?" Alex asked as he bit into his toast.

"I think so. I mean, Julia will be there in your school, so at least you'll have someone you know." his dad replied.

Ash stood up and poured a cup of coffee. He added sugar and cream to the coffee and when he looked up, Alex was staring at the cup.

"No, you can't have any." Ash said.

"A sip?" Alex asked. He loved the smell of coffee and he was always sneaking sips from his parents' mugs when they walked out of the room or weren't paying attention.

"Fine. Only a sip, though."

Ash slid the mug over and Alex took a few sips and slid the mug back. "Thanks, dad!" he cried.

Ash nodded and finished his food. Alex finished soon after.

"We gotta go or you'll be late." Ash said, noticing the time.

"Pika!" Pikachu cried, running into the kitchen.

"Pikachu, I'm taking Alex to school. I'll be back in a few minutes." Ash said, petting Pikachu's head.

"Chu!"

Alex walked to his room and grabbed his one-shoulder black backpack.

"Ready?" Ash asked.

Alex nodded his head and they left the house. The two hopped into their black sports car and drove towards Twinleaf Elementary.

After fifteen minutes, Ash was pulling into the school parking lot. Twinleaf Elementary was the school for Pre-K through sixth grade. The school was made of red bricks.

Ash and Alex entered the office and were greeted by an old lady. She looked like she didn't want to be here, by the expression on her face.

"Hello and welcome to Twinleaf Elementary. How may I help you?" she asked in a monotone voice.

"I'm Ash Ketchum and this is my son, Alex. He's the new student. I just need to know who his teacher is." Ash explained.

"Oh yes, the new child." The lady shuffled through the folders on her desk. "Here we are. I need to make sure that all of this is correct first."

Ash nodded his head and Alex sighed quietly.

"Name is Alex Ketchum? Age is seven? Grade two?"

"That's correct."

"One par-" the lady started.

"Yes. Look, I just need to know his teacher. I would like him to be able to get his first day started." Ash said, losing patience and not wanting Alex to hear what she was going to say.

"Okay then, Mr. Ketchum. I presume everything is correct then. Alex's teacher is Miss Vickers in room ten."

"Thank you," Ash walked Alex over to the door of the office.

"She'll have someone take you to the classroom. I have to go now." Ash said.

"Okay..." Alex trailed.

"Hey, you'll be fine."

"Okay,"

"See you back at home at three."

"Okay. Bye, dad."

"Bye Alex, love you."

"Love you, too."

Ash walked out of the office and was out of Alex's sight quickly.

"Alex?" a girl's voice asked. Alex turned around to find a teenage girl standing there.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Hi, I'm Val, an office assistant for the school. I'll be taking you to your class. You ready?" Val asked.

Alex nodded his head and followed Val out of the office and down the small hallway with gray tiles.

"This is Miss Vickers' classroom." Val said.

Alex glanced at the door. The door had 'Miss Vickers' in pink letters and smiley faces were decorating the remaining space.

Val knocked on the door and waited. The door opened to reveal a young adult. She had light purple hair that was in a side braid, green eyes, and she was slightly pale. She wore flared out jeans, a white collar shirt, and white boots.

"Kids, I'll be out in the hall for a few minutes. Luca, take names for me." Miss Vickers said as she stepped out and closed her door behind her.

"Miss Vickers, this is your new student, Alex Ketchum." Val explained.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Alex. I heard I was getting a new student over the weekend."

Alex nodded his head.

"Well, I have to go now. Good luck, Alex." Val said, walking off.

Miss Vickers looked at Alex, who had his eyes down. "Hey, there's no need to be scared. Wait outside for just a moment, please." she said as she walked back into the classroom.

"Thank you, Luca. Gregg, see me before P.E." Miss Vickers said. "Now kids, I have an important announcement to make. We have a new student joining our class."

This caused many whispers to start.

"Come on in, sweetie."

Alex stepped into the classroom and he felt all of their eyes fall on him. He walked to stand beside Miss Vickers.

"This is Alex Ketchum. Please make him feel welcome." Miss Vickers said.

"Miss Vickers!" a boy cried.

"Yes, Ralf?" she asked.

"Can I ask...Alex a question?"

"That's up to Alex, Ralf."

"Sure?" Alex replied.

"Awesome! Ash Ketchum is your dad right?" Ralf asked.

"Yeah he is."

"That's awesome! I'm hoping to be a great trainer like him someday!"

"Alex, take a seat beside..." Miss Vickers trailed as she scanned the room.

"Little B!" a kid yelled.

"J.B." another cried.

"Children!" Miss Vickers scolded.

"Sorry, Miss Vickers."

"Alex, you will sit beside Julia. Julia, please raise your hand." Miss Vickers said.

Alex's ears perked up upon hearing Julia's name. He looked and saw Julia's hand in the air. He smiled to himself, glad that he was in the same class as his friend, and that he got to sit by his friend. He walked to the table in the back of the room and sat down. Julia was reading a book and she glanced at him.

"Hi," she said softly.

"Hey. Glad I have a friend in my class." Alex said.

Julia gave a small smile and muttered something that Alex didn't catch.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing,"

Miss Vickers was writing something onto the board. "Okay class, it's time to start. Alex, just share with Julia for now. I'll have your books and things by the end of the week. Now take out your multiplication sheet."

Julia removed a blue paper with the times tables on it.

"I want you to study the sheet for a few minutes. When it's ten after, we're going to have a partner assignment."

Julia and Alex looked down at the paper.

"Okay, now put the multiplication sheet away. Being passed down is an assignment that you and your partner must complete together. Do not use your multiplication sheet. If you do, you will have to write all of your times tables during P.E." Miss Vickers said.

Julia looked at the paper and Alex glanced at it, too. She went to solve the first problem. 7 X 7=

She scribbled 42 as the answer.

"No, it's forty-nine." Alex said.

"Sorry, I'm not very good at Math. English I can do. I love English."

"I'll help you. It's simple, really."

Alex showed Julia different ways of how to solve the problems. He had answered most of the problems except for five.

"Now you can try these five."

6 X 3=

9 X 2=

4 X 4=

7 X 8=

5 X 5=

She wrote 18, 18, 16, 56, and 25 as the answers, respectively.

"That's it! You got them right." Alex said.

After Math, it was time for English. Soon they were working together on an English worksheet. Alex had trouble spelling some complicated words and his writing was a little hard to make out. Julia helped to correct his words and show him how to write more neatly.

"Okay, you may go to P.E." Miss Vickers said after the class had ended.

Most of the class ran off, but Julia walked with Alex. Alex then noticed that Julia was wearing jean cutoff shorts, a plain pink top, and pink sneakers.

"Why are you so quiet?" Alex asked.

"I'm always quiet." Julia replied.

"No, you seemed really excited and energetic when you were at your house."

"That's home, this is school."

They walked into the gym and the teacher wasn't around. Alex noticed that another class was in here. He guessed that some classes had to take P.E. together. The teacher then walked in and was holding a few basketballs. Alex caught one of the basketballs and he and Julia walked to an empty basket.

"You can shoot first." Alex said, handing Julia the ball.

"Thanks," Julia said. She bounced the ball a few times and shot it, making the goal.

"Not bad. You told me before that the boys say you're not good enough to play with them, but you seem pretty skilled to me." Alex told her.

"Out of all of the girls, maybe." Julia said. "But you should see the boys. I'd never be able to compare to them."

Alex then noticed a boy from his class who he didn't know, along with a boy from the other class, walking towards the two.

"What's the matter with you? Why are you playing with her?" the other boy asked.

"Yeah why? Don't play with Little B." the boy from their class said. They call her "little" because she's an inch shorter than all of the other girls in her class.

Julia made a curtain form around her face and she looked down.

"Her name is Julia, not Little B. Julia's my friend and I told her the day I moved to Sinnoh that I would play with her if I went to the same school. I always stay true to my word." Alex said.

"You're dumb for hanging out with her. She's weird."

A girl walked over and something about the way Julia backed up made Alex know she was trouble.

"Aww, little Julia lonely? Little Julia seeking a friend? Little Julia was abandoned! Little Julia and her mommy weren't loved by Little Julia's Daddy!" she said in a baby voice.

The basketball Julia was holding fell from her hands.

"I think it's time for a song..." the girl trailed. "Poor Little Julia! Little Julia was left! Little Julia no love! Little Julia...Poor-"

"Leave her alone!" Alex cried.

The three stared at Alex, shocked that he would stand up for someone like her.

"Go and pick on someone else. Julia doesn't deserve this."

"Yeah, she does...she's weird and fatherless." the girl said.

Alex looked at Julia who was shaking slightly. He knew she was crying.

"Oh yeah? Well I'm motherless. If you three are going to pick on someone, pick on me. Leave us alone. From now on, if you pick on her, you'll have to deal with me!" Alex replied, scooping the basketball up and leading Julia towards the bleachers.

"Thanks, Alex...for sticking up for me." Julia said as she wiped her face with her hands.

"Well, my best friend was getting bullied and I wasn't going to allow that."

"Thank you..."

A small silence was between the two, both of them thinking of one thought.

"Why wasn't your dad/mom around when we met?" they asked at the same time.

Julia bit her lip and looked at the ground and Alex looked at the basketball he was holding.

"My...parents split...a year ago. My dad left and they...split." Julia said softly.

"Oh, so they...discoursed?"

Julia giggled. "It's 'divorced', but yeah, that's what they did. I...like 'split up' better, though. It's simpler."

"...What did your dad look like?"

Julia looked at Alex for a second and said, "He was a little shorter than your dad. He had brownish-red hair and black eyes. He knew my mom from long ago. He loved the color green it seemed, he was always wearing green. Alex...you said that you were motherless. Did your parents split, too?"

Alex shook his head. "My mom was killed. It was a year ago...during winter. My dad and my mom...they were driving. The...the road was iced and...it slid off the road. The car flipped into a ditch upside down..." Alex trailed.

"You don't have to finish." Julia said, seeing that Alex was hurting inside.

"No, I'm going to finish, it'll be good for me to tell someone about it. Anyways, my mom was crushed to death and my dad barely survived. He was injured badly and he got out of the side he was on..."

"I'm so sorry. What did she look like?"

"My dad says I have her eyes, only brighter. I have her personality a little, too. Especially when I'm mad. She was the same height as my dad, long hair that was orange, and green eyes. She knew my dad from long ago, too."

Julia muttered something and Alex didn't quite catch it. Alex was about to ask her why none of the teachers had done anything about the bullies, but as he looked at the gym, a poster caught his attention.

"What's that poster?" he asked, pointing while changing the topic.

Julia looked up and at the poster. "Floor hockey try-outs."

"Really? I think I might try that. I played hockey for my old school back in Pallet Town." Alex stood up quickly and walked to the poster. He read over the information seeing that try-outs were Friday.

Alex walked back towards Julia to see a boy and a girl talking to her. He was worried they were more bullies and quickened his pace. Julia was laughing by time he arrived.

"Haha. Alex, these are my friends. This is Trey and his sister Isla."

Trey had blonde hair that was spiked, dark brown eyes, and he was tan. He wore white shorts, a green tank top, and white sneakers. Isla had black hair cut to her chin, dark brown eyes, and she was pale. She wore black shorts, a red pullover, and black sneakers.

"Hi, you're Alex Ketchum, right?" Isla asked.

"Yeah,"

"Well, lots of people want to be your friend." Trey said.

"Figures. I have the most famous guy in the world as my dad."

"Hey, can we play basketball already?" Julia asked.

"Yeah, you guys playing?" Alex asked.

"Oh no, I suck." Trey said.

"I have bad luck with basketball." Isla said.

Alex and Julia walked to the empty goal.

"One on one?" Alex asked.

"You're on!" Julia cried.

* * *

In the Ketchum Household...

Alex laid on the couch watching one of his dad's battles while Ash sat in the chair watching, too.

"How was your first day at school?" Ash asked.

Alex glanced at his dad. He reached for the remote and paused the battle even though he had seen this one more than once.

"Good," he replied.

"What happened?"

"I get to sit by Julia in class. I met two of her friends who are brother and sister, Trey and Isla. Floor hockey try-outs are Friday. Think I can try?"

"That's good. And yes, you can try-out. You played with your old school's team back in Pallet Town, after all. Anything else happen?"

"I learned something about Julia and her mom."

"Which was?"

"Did you notice that there wasn't a guy around when we went over? He left them. Julia's parents split a year ago."

"Oh...that's so sad..."

* * *

In the Berlitz Household...

"Sorry!" Julia cried, looking from her mom to the kitchen floor.

On the floor was melted chocolate, which Julia had dropped. Dawn laughed and shook her head.

"It's okay, sweetie. While we clean this up, why don't you tell me how your day went." Dawn said, wetting a rag.

Julia grabbed a rag and sat on the floor. "Well, Alex is in my class and he sits beside me. He helped me understand math!"

"That's wonderful! Math was never one of your strong subjects."

"I helped him, too. With his English work."

"It's great that you're helping each other. You seem to make a great team. What else happened?"

"He stood up for me. You know how Gregg, Forest, and Amy are always teasing me? He told them to stop. He stood up for me. He even played basketball with me like he said he would."

Dawn smiled, maybe her daughter would stop getting picked on.

"I also learned about Mr. Ash's wife and Alex's mom."

Dawn stopped scrubbing at the floor and looked at Julia.

"The lady was killed in a car accident last year. Alex said Mr. Ash was in it as well and he almost died, too."

Dawn then realized Ash's response to her question on the first day she met him was because of that.

"That's terrible..." she muttered and scrubbed at the floor again.

* * *

**Don't forget to send us more suggestions for things you want to see happen in the story! The more we have, the longer we can make the story!**

**Please R&R**


	3. Chapter 3

**XashXdawnX- Here's the newest chapter, enjoy!**

**Keep sending in more suggestions for Ash and Dawn and the kids so we can continue the story!**

Alex walked into the kitchen with his school bag along with his hockey bag. He was dressed in basketball shorts that were orange, a plain black shirt, and black and orange sneakers.

"What time are tryouts over after school?" Ash asked as Alex poured some cereal into a bowl.

"I think the poster said five." Alex answered, walking to the fridge for the milk.

"Okay, I'll be there by five."

Ash grabbed an apple that was in the bowl and took a bite. Alex started eating his cereal and soon he was finished.

"Ready to go?" Ash asked.

Alex checked his hockey bag and then he checked his school bag. "One second, dad." he said, running to his room.

Ash grabbed Alex's hockey bag and slung it across his shoulder and waited. Alex returned and Ash didn't notice anything different.

"Let's go, then." Ash said.

After a short drive, Ash was pulling to a stop in the drop-off line.

"Bye, dad. See you after tryouts. Love you." Alex said, adjusting his bags.

"Love you, too. Good luck. And remember, have fun." Ash said.

Alex opened the door and hopped out. "Later!" he called as he closed the door.

In the short amount of time that they had lived here, Alex had come to like the school and looked forward to going.

Alex walked through the halls and to his classroom. He walked in and saw that Julia wasn't there yet. He put his game bag against the back wall after asking Miss Vickers if he was allowed, and sat down.

Miss Vickers walked over to him and handed him the last of his books and things he needed for school.

"Now you're all set." she said.

Alex looked to see that it was an English workbook. He glanced at the clock and then the door. Miss Vickers began writing on the board. Julia walked into the classroom nearly dropping the book she was holding. She was wearing a purple plaid button up shirt, jean shorts, and purple boots to her knees.

"Hey!" she greeted, sitting down.

"Hey," Alex greeted.

The bell rang, signaling school had started now.

"Good morning, class." Miss Vickers greeted.

"Good morning..."

"Today, we're having a spelling test. I hope you all studied the words I asked you to."

A few groaned and Alex laid his head on the desk.

"I forgot to study." he muttered.

"Spelling tests are easy in here. It's not really hard." Julia said as she wrote her name on her paper.

"Easy for you to say. You're good at spelling." Alex mumbled as he wrote his name.

"There are ten words. Number one through ten."

"Number one is freshly. The boy couldn't help but grin at the freshly baked bread. Freshly." she said, using the word in a sentence.

Eventually, she reached the final word. "Number ten is joked. The kids joked around. Joked. Now, does anyone need a word repeated?"

Nobody raised their hand.

"Pass your papers up to the front, then."

Julia tapped her pencil against the table out of boredom.

"How did you do?" she asked, glancing at Alex.

"I think I made a B."

"That's good. Tryouts today?"

"Yeah, I'm ready for school to be over with so I can go."

Miss Vickers had the papers in her hands now.

"Okay, now I would like you all to read your book until I get these graded."

After reading for a little while, it was time for a worksheet on Pokemon history.

"You may go to P.E." Miss Vickers said afterwards.

Alex and Julia walked calmly to the gym even though Alex wanted to run. The two entered the gym and the teacher was talking to someone, but basketballs were laid out. Julia grabbed a ball, unnoticed by anyone, and walked back over to Alex.

"Want to play Around the World?" Julia asked.

"Yeah!" Alex cried.

* * *

"Have a great weekend. See you all on Monday." Miss Vickers said.

"Good luck with tryouts." Julia said as she gathered her belongings.

"Thanks, see you later." Alex said, slinging his bags onto his shoulders.

"Bye,"

Alex walked to the gym and walked inside. There were around 40 boys ranging from grades one to three. He put his bags on the bleachers and spotted Gregg.

"Well, well, look who wants to try out." Gregg said, approaching Alex.

"What do you want, Gregg?" Alex asked as he removed his hockey stick.

"Just letting you know, you won't make the team. I'm the best there is in second grade."

Alex smirked and glanced at Gregg.

"Well, not to burst your bubble, but...I was the best that Kanto Elementary had."

"How's that?"

"Last year, I was the only first grade boy on the whole team. It was mostly full of second and third grade kids. That says how good I was. We didn't win the championship, but we came close and my coach said that in a few more years of playing, I could develop into a powerful scorer."

Gregg scoffed and walked off. A whistle was then blown and the kids stopped talking.

A man in his mid thirties with spiked blonde hair walked to the kids. He was holding three bags, which he dropped on the floor beside him.

"My name is Craig. You can call me 'Coach Craig', or just 'Coach'. This is my first year as coach of the Twinleaf Weaviles. Now before we get started, I have some things to tell you. In Twinleaf Elementary, all of our sports teams are divided into two groups. One team for grades four to six, one team for grades one to three, which is the one you'll be playing in, if you pass.

"I won't lie to you, this won't be easy. While the three older grades have had some success, winning eight hockey championships in the last 25 years, our younger team - or your grades, to be more specific - haven't won in 25 years. I was one of the players on that team, long before any of you were born. Our team used to be a force to be reckoned with. Nowadays, the team is only average compared to the other school teams in Sinnoh.

"No go and put on your hockey equipment. On your way, take a jersey from the bag. Grade ones wear white, twos wear red, threes wear black. That way, it'll be easy to know which grade you're from and who to pair. They're also suitably sized for your boys your age."

Alex grabbed a plain red jersey and then walked to the locker room to put on his arm and chest pads. They were the same pads he wore when he played back in Pallet Town. He hadn't worn them in almost a year and amazingly, they still fit him. He then pulled the large jersey over his head, covering the equipment he was wearing, strapped on his black helmet, put on his gloves, grabbed his stick, and headed back out into the gym.

Once all 40 boys were ready, their coach said, "Now to get you all warmed up, give me 20 laps around the gym! Go!" He blew his whistle and they all took off.

After they finished, some of the boys in grade one looked exhausted. So did a few grade twos. Alex didn't feel winded at all, since he had done this sort of thing before back in Pallet Town.

Without giving them a moment to catch their breaths, the coach said, "Line up on this side of the gym in front of the net and face the other side of the gym." The boys did so. "Next drill, run as fast as you can to the blue line, and back. Then the center line and back. Then the far blue line and back. And finally, all the way down to the other side of the gym and back. Get used to this drill because we'll be doing it a lot in practice if you make the team. I call it, 'The Line Run'.

"This drill will sharpen your stamina and endurance and speed, strengthening your legs. Before we move on to anything else, you need to show me if you can push your body as hard as a game will demand it when you play against the other schools. I can't promise you we'll be the best team, but we will be the best-conditioned team. That, I CAN promise you."

As they were doing so, he yelled to them, "Be prepared to grow through pain, boys. You're going to run faster and longer than you've ever ran in your lives every minute of every day that you're here with me! The fastest way to make it onto this team is by being the fastest!"

After doing the run four or five times, most of the younger kids looked ready to collapse. Alex had to admit that he hadn't felt this tired in a long while, but he didn't show it. The last thing he wanted to do was show a weakness to his coach, fearing he would cut him from the team, or to Gregg, fearing he would rub it in his face.

As the afternoon went on, they did more practice such as weaving through pylons, weaving while keeping the ball in control, target practice at the net, and many more.

At five o'clock, Craig finally let his players go after some parting words. "Today was just to get you in shape, see who could keep up with the drills, and what players I can work with the best. I'm going to cut ten of you from the team and if you're cut, you'll be getting a phone call tonight saying that you didn't make it. If you don't, then I'll see tomorrow on Saturday. Then the real training begins."

Alex was almost ready to collapse when Ash picked him up. He slept like a log that night, and didn't get a phone call saying that he was cut from the team. He was back the next morning on Saturday, since the school was remaining open over the weekend for the tryouts.

Alex noticed that Gregg was still there, so he had passed the first round of cuts, too. Nearly all of the first grade boys were gone, along with a few second grade boys. With ten players gone, the group had shrunk to 30. But Alex knew that there could only be 23 players on a hockey team.

They started with more running to keep them in shape and more Line Runs. All that practice from the day before seemed to have worked, since Alex wasn't as tired this time. For the main leg of the training for the day, the coach kept rotating players for offense and defense drills to see who worked best with who and which position they should play. Alex wasn't very good on defense, but his passing was clean and crisp and he nearly always managed to score when he shot the ball.

"Twenty-three of you are going to play for the Weaviles, seven of you are going home." Craig said to them after they finished that day. "Who that is, believe it or not, is up to you. But there won't be anybody cut today." He was impressed about the players he had to work with and today, he couldn't make any final call on who stays and goes since they were doing everything he had asked and then some. He thought that if they could keep this up, they just might have a chance to win the championship!

On Sunday, they tried more combinations of players and went home very nervous, since the coach had said that he would post the list of players who made the team on the school bulletin board on Monday.

* * *

Alex had done all that he could. He could barely sleep that night. On Monday morning, he headed to see the list. The other boys were crowding around to see if they had made it. As Alex looked at the list of 23 players, he scrolled through the list to see his if his name was there.

The names he saw were listed in no particular order: Jake, Alan, Anthony, Ryan, Gregg, Peter, Brett, Jon, Josh, Rob, Steve, Mark, Mike, Russell, Jeff, Chris, Justin, Patrick, Eric, Matt, Daniel, Edward, and...Alex.

Alex sighed in relief and walked to the classroom. He walked into the room to see that almost everyone was there already. He sat down beside Julia who was drawing on a piece of paper.

"Hi, Alex. How were tryouts?" she asked, glancing at him for a second.

"Pretty good. The first day nearly killed me. It was the hardest that I'd ever pushed myself in my life." Alex replied.

"So? Did you make the team?"

The bell rang before Alex could say anything else to Julia and Miss Vickers started class.

All day, Alex couldn't tell Julia he had made the team. At P.E., Julia stayed in because her head was killing her. Now it was time for lunch. Maybe he could tell her now.

"Guess what," Alex said.

"What?" Julia asked.

"I made the team."

Julia stopped walking and looked at Alex. "That's awesome!" she cried. Alex noticed that she sounded like the girl she was when they had first met: loud, not quiet.

But Julia quickly regained the quiet demeanor. "That's great, Alex. Really great."

"What are you doing after school?"

"Nothing, just going to finish the homework we have. Why?" Julia asked, glancing at Alex.

"Wanna come over after school? I can help you with the Math and you can help me with the English."

"Sure! Oh, and I finished the English."

"And I finished the Math."

* * *

Alex and Julia walked to Ash's car since Ash was picking up Julia today and bring her to her house, for Dawn had to run a few errands and couldn't pick Julia up.

"Hi, Mr. Ash." Julia said as she buckled her seat-belt.

"Hello, Julia." Ash greeted.

Alex closed the door and buckled up.

"Was the team list up?" Ash asked.

"Yeah, it was." Alex replied.

"And?"

"I made the team!"

"That's great! Any of your friends made the team?"

"No one I know, just a guy that is a bully named Gregg."

"Gregg made the team?" Julia asked.

"Yeah, he said he's the best in second grade. None of the first graders who tried out made it. I guess the training was too much for them."

"Oh, yeah. Mr. Ash, we're going to work on our homework together." Julia said, unbuckling her seatbelt since they were at the house now.

They walked into the Ketchum house and the two went to Alex's room.

"Julia, does your mom know you're over here?" Ash asked.

Julia hadn't told her mom and she looked at Alex, silently asking for help.

"Yes!" Alex cried.

"Alex..." Julia trailed.

"Your mom will come over here to find you. I mean, my dad brought you home." Alex said, shrugging.

The two started working on the homework and halfway through the back of the Math worksheet, the doorbell rang.

"Hi, Dawn." Ash greeted.

"Is Julia over here?" Dawn asked.

"Yes, they're working on homework. I'm sorry I didn't come over and tell you."

"Oh, it's fine. I thought she would be over here when she wasn't home by three-thirty."

"Come in and I'll go see if they're done."

Dawn stepped in and closed the door while Ash walked off to Alex's room. He looked at the two from the doorway. Alex was laying on the floor holding the worksheet in the air looking at it while Julia was on her stomach working on the worksheet.

"You two done?" Ash asked.

Alex rolled his head and looked at his dad. "No. We have the back of this worksheet and then half of the other worksheet left." Alex replied.

"What are you two doing in here?"

"Working. She's slower at Math and I'm slower at English. One works on their sheet and the other checks it. If it's wrong, we fix it together."

"Okay. Well Julia, do you want to give your mom your bag or anything?"

"My mom's here?" Julia asked, sitting up.

Ash nodded his head and walked off. The two kids followed him into the living room where Dawn was standing.

"Hi, mom!" Julia said, hugging her mom.

"Hey, sweetie. You done or no?" Dawn asked.

"Not yet. We should be done by four thirty."

"Alright, then. When you're finished, you can walk back."

Alex and Julia went back to the room to finish their work, leaving Ash and Dawn alone.

"Thanks again for taking care of Julia for me." Dawn said to Ash. "It's good to know that there's someone in the neighborhood that she can go to for anything if I'm not around."

"Don't mention it, I'm happy to help." Ash replied. "And I think Alex enjoys having her over here, and I'm sure that she enjoys it, too."

"They make quite a team when it comes to schoolwork. Ever since they began helping each other, Julia's grades have really been improving."

"So has Alex's grades."

An awkward pause followed until Dawn said, "Well, I...I guess I'll head home and wait for Julia."

* * *

The next day at school, just before the bell rang for lunch, the principal announced that all members of the hockey team had to meet for a brief meeting.

Once all 23 of them had gathered in the gym, Coach Craig said to them, "Well, congratulations on being selected for the team. I pushed everyone as hard as I could, but you boys made it through everything and came out in the best shape. Throughout the years, it's usually been almost all grade three boys with just a handful of grade twos. But things were a little more even this year. There are thirteen grade threes and ten grade twos."

"But coach, you missed some of the best players!" a boy exclaimed.

"I'm not looking for the BEST players, I'm looking for the RIGHT players. If you don't like it, you can quit anytime and I'll just bring in someone else."

He then looked at the group and continued. "Now, the reason I called you all here is because the school needs to order your hockey jerseys and they'll be here in about a week. So fill out this sheet and include your first and last name, and the jersey number you want to wear. If any of you pick the same number as another person on the team, one of you will have to change it. When you fill it out, pass it back to me and you're free to go to lunch."

He handed out the sheets and Alex began filling it out. When he got to his jersey number selection, he decided to use the same one that he had worn while playing in Pallet Town. Number nine. He wrote a "9" in the blank and handed back the sheet to the coach.

On his way out, he was stopped and pulled to the side by Gregg, who said, "Look Alex, you don't like me, and I certainly don't like you. But if we're going to have any chance of winning any of our games, I guess we need to put aside our differences for now."

"Truce?" Gregg asked, holding out his hand.

"Truce." Alex agreed, shaking his hand.

**Please R&R**


	4. Chapter 4

**********Disclaimer: All rights for Pokémon and its respective trademarks go to Satoshi Tajiri, Nintendo, Game Freak, et al.**

**XashXdawnX - Here's the next chapter to Two Broken Hearts, we hope you all enjoy it.**

**PokemonFreak90 - And PLEASE send in more suggestions. We really need them.**

**An important note to all of the readers: The Ash and Dawn romance that you want to see happen? It WILL happen. We just can't have them meet and then BAM! Instant romance forms. It's too cliche. Don't worry, it will happen, but it's a slow romance. It's gonna be kinda like Hunted Down, but not THAT drawn out.**

* * *

Ash parked on the side of the school and turned the car off.

"What are you doing?" Alex asked, slightly confused.

"I have a meeting with Miss Vickers." he replied as he opened his door.

He walked to the office while Alex walked to his class. Alex found Julia already sitting at her desk with her head resting on her arms.

"You look sleepy." Alex said, sitting down.

"I am...my mom had to wake me up earlier because she had a meeting with Miss Vickers." Julia said with a small yawn.

"My dad has a meeting with her, too. Must be a parent-teacher meeting."

"Miss Vickers won't be in here until the meeting is over. We'll have someone watching us and have a free day until she comes back." Julia muttered sleepily.

The bell rang and a girl, who Alex noticed was Val, walked into the room.

"Hey, kids. I'm just gonna watch over you until Miss Vickers is done. So just be good and you can talk to your friends or whatever, just don't get too loud. Okay?"

"Okay!"

Julia closed her eyes, deciding to take a little nap. Alex started to draw on a piece of paper.

* * *

Miss Vickers, Ash, and Dawn sat in the conference room.

"Thank you for meeting with me this early in the morning." Miss Vickers said.

"No problem at all." Dawn said.

"Not a problem." Ash said.

"Well, both of your children are doing wonderfully in school. Miss Berlitz, Julia has improved wonderfully. Her grades have gotten better, especially in Math. Mr. Ketchum, judging by Alex's grades from his past years in Kanto, his English has improved greatly. Your children, they make a wonderful team."

Ash sighed in relief, glad that Alex's English grade was getting better. Dawn smiled, knowing her daughter was doing better in Math.

"They're never without one another when they're in school. I've never seen such close friends before. You could almost say that they're like brother and sister! Julia has become more talkative while in class like the other kids. But she prefers to talk to Alex, mainly. It seems that she's finally coming out of her shell. Alex seems to stick with Julia, too. Occasionally, I see him talking to the others."

The door opened and Alex's hockey coach walked into the room. "Sorry, Miss Vickers. I just need to give Alex's dad something."

Miss Vickers nodded her head and Ash walked over to the coach while Dawn and Miss Vickers talked about Julia.

"I just wanted to let you know that your son...he has a real gift for hockey. I've never seen a kid like him play that well at that age. During tryouts, he did everything I asked of him, and then some. He seemed to want to prove to me, to the other boys, and to himself that he belonged on the team. Not once did he ever complain about how strenuous it was. He's even better than some of the third graders on the team!"

"Thanks. He lives and breaths sports." Ash said.

"Well, that's good. At least he's in good health. Anyway, here's his jersey, the rest of his uniform, and the team schedules so you know what's going on."

"Thank you,"

The coach left the room and Miss Vickers stood up.

"Well, that's all. Thanks for meeting with me. I have to get back to class." she said, shaking their hands.

Ash and Dawn walked out of the room and out of the building. Dawn started to head towards her truck, but she stopped.

"You know, Ash...if you and Alex ever want to come over, you're welcome. I love that our kids are such good friends and they deserve to see each other. Don't you agree?" she said, facing him.

"I agree. And thank you, Dawn. You and Julia are welcome at my home whenever you want, too." Ash said.

Dawn gave a small smile. Dawn glanced at her phone and frowned. "Well, goodbye, Ash. Work calls." she said.

"Bye, Dawn." Ash said, watching as she walked to the small white truck and got in.

He turned and went to his car to go home.

* * *

Miss Vickers walked into the classroom to find a few students standing at the front of the room, some talking, and some sleeping or working on something.

"Miss Vickers, your class was good. Except these three, who started to horseplay and I wasn't gonna have it." Val said, motioning to the three boys.

"Thank you, Val. Do you need a pass?" Miss Vickers asked.

"No, I really like this class."

Miss Vickers smiled and Val left the room. Miss Vickers gave the boys a sentence to write for homework, at least a page full.

"Alright class, I hope you all had a nice free time. It's time to come back to the classroom and time to learn." Miss Vickers said as she grabbed a piece of chalk.

Alex poked Julia, but she didn't wake up. He shook her shoulder and she opened her eyes slightly.

"Miss Vickers is back." he said softly.

Julia blinked and nodded her head. She yawned and rubbed her face attempting to wake herself up. She raised her head and then she stared at the lights.

"Okay, I'm good now." she said, blinking her eyes repeatedly.

Alex chuckled softly.

* * *

Alex and Julia walked into the gym to find the teacher with two bins full of colored jerseys in front of him. He blew his whistle to get the kids to come over.

"Today, we're going outside to play soccer. It's nice out and you all love to go outside, right?"

A few cheers and groans from the kids.

"Don't complain, you kids need fresh air."

A few grumbles were his answer.

"Hmm...team captains will be the ladies today. Hmm...Julia-" the coach started but laughter came from many of the kids. He gave them a stern look and the laughter stopped.

"-And Amy will be the captains. Julia, you pick first and what color do you want to be?"

Julia glanced at the jerseys which were either white or black. "Black, please. I pick Alex." Julia said. Alex walked over to Julia's side.

"Gregg," said Amy.

The picking continued until everyone was picked. The jerseys were handed out and they put the jerseys over their shirts.

"Alright, to the field!"

The class walked out of the gym and to the school fields. Alex knew he would have to keep an eye on Amy, since she was one of the people who had made fun of Julia when he first came to the school. He knew Gregg wouldn't try anything since they had a truce, but he still knew he would be a tough person to play against.

"Okay! The main rule is simple. No tripping. Now I understand a small trip up may happen when you try to steal the ball, but don't run over and trip them without attempting to get the ball. Have fun and play fair." the teacher explained.

Julia and Amy were standing in front of each other in the middle of the field with the ball between them. The whistle was blown and Julia quickly got possession of the ball. She dribbled along and was approaching Gregg quickly. She saw Alex jogging a little ways ahead and faked a pass to the right and passed to Alex, tricking Gregg.

Alex dribbled and was clear for the goal. He kicked the ball and scored. Julia ran over and gave him a thumbs up. He nodded his head.

The game continued on with the black team leading 3-1. Julia had just passed the ball to Trent after stealing it from Amy. Amy looked very mad and was running very close to Julia.

"You shouldn't have done that, Little Julia." she hissed.

Amy ran a little ways ahead of Julia and quickly stuck her leg out, causing Julia to trip. As Julia was falling, her right leg went out, quickly causing her whole weight to fall onto her right leg. There was a loud crack, followed by the sound of Julia's scream in pain.

The coach blew the whistle, seeing the trip that shouldn't have happened. Alex ran over to Julia and crouched down next to her. She had tears falling down her cheeks and her teeth were clenched in pain.

"Julia...your leg..." he trailed, unable to make a sentence.

Julia felt like she was going to throw up at any second and her right leg was killing her. Her skin had gone pale.

"I...I can't move my leg." Julia said in a strained voice.

Alex looked at her leg and shook his head. He knew it was broken.

"Aww. Julia, it's just a scratch. Get up!" Amy cried.

Amy started to laugh at Julia. Julia didn't care, she just wanted her leg to quit hurting.

"Alex...my leg is hurting...bad." she said, barely audible.

Amy laughed even harder.

"Oh...he can't help you. He doesn't want to help you." Amy said, laughing.

At that point, Alex snapped. He knew this was no accident. She had deliberately tried to hurt Julia. With his anger building, Alex stood up and without even thinking he felt his fist connect with something and then he heard someone else crying. Alex blinked and looked at his hand to find some blood on it. He looked at Amy who was on the ground, holding her nose with blood all over her face.

"Oh no..." he muttered, kneeling back down to Julia.

The teacher ran over to find the two girls on the ground and one was bleeding. He knelt next to Julia and looked at her leg which was still under her, unable to move it from the pain.

"Julia, we need to get your right leg out from under you." he said.

"No, it hurts." Julia said, shaking her head.

"An ambulance is on it's way. We have to get your leg out from under you."

"We need to get it out from under you. It'll hurt, but it'll feel better once they get here. It'll be okay." Alex said reassuringly.

Julia bit her lip and nodded her head.

"Help me get her up." the teacher said to Alex.

Alex stood up, and together they were able to get Julia up to a standing position.

"It hurts," she muttered.

"Don't worry, they'll be here soon." Alex said softly.

"Can you keep her upright?" the teacher asked.

Alex nodded his head as the teacher carefully let Julia go and went to check on Amy.

"So what happened here?" he asked.

Sirens were getting louder and louder. Soon the ambulance was pulling onto the fields and the paramedics hurried over to where Julia was.

"We've got her now, son. Thanks." he said, carefully taking Julia. Julia was put into the ambulance and they drove off.

"Alex," the teacher called.

Alex rubbed his fist against his pants to wipe off the blood and walked over.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Did you...really punch her?" he asked, slightly shocked.

"Umm...actually, I'm not really sure. I didn't see it." he replied.

He looked at Alex, confused. "What? They said you straight up punched her in the nose."

"Well, I felt something come in contact with my fist and there was blood. I just didn't see and had no control of my actions."

"Oh...so anger, right?"

"Yes, she was laughing at Julia and she tripped Julia for no reason. Julia's my friend and she was getting bullied. I guess I couldn't take it."

"Alright..."

* * *

Alex had been quiet the rest of the day at school. It was the first time since he had moved to Twinleaf Town that he had to be at school without Julia and he was worried about what had happened to her.

Ash had been quiet during the car ride home and once in the house, Alex was jittery. He wanted to see how Julia was.

"What happened at school?" his dad asked, looking at him.

"Julia's in the hospital. Can you take me to see her?" Alex asked.

Ash looked shocked, but he grabbed his keys and headed back out the door.

"How did this happen?" he asked as he drove towards the hospital.

"Her leg was broken."

After a ten minute drive, they were pulling into the parking lot. They walked into the hospital and they spotted Dawn and another woman who looked exactly like her, but older.

"Is Julia okay?" Alex asked.

Dawn and the other woman jumped, startled by Alex. Dawn looked behind her and saw Ash and Alex.

"Yes, she's fine. Her leg is just broken. She should be waking up soon. They said they would let us know when she woke up." Dawn said. "Oh, Ash, Alex, this is my mom, Johanna Berlitz. Mom, this is Ash Ketchum and his son, Alex."

"Nice to meet you." Ash said, bowing his head.

"Nice to meet you." Alex said, bowing his head also.

"It's nice to meet you both."

Johanna had sapphire hair that was pulled into a tight bun on her head with gray stripes of hair here and there. She had sapphire eyes, and she was slightly pale. She wore a gray wool sweater over a peach colored shirt, jeans, and some flats.

"Julia Berzil?" a nurse called.

"It's Berlitz, and right here." Dawn said.

"Oh, sorry. She's awake, are all of you going back there?"

"Yes,"

"Okay. Well, she's in room one hundred and six."

The four walked through the hall and found Julia's room. Dawn opened the door and she walked in, followed by Johanna. Alex and Ash then followed behind and Ash closed the door softly.

Dawn was by the top of the bed, smoothing Julia's hair. "You feel better?" she asked.

"Yeah...much better, but my leg itches." Julia said.

Julia was still in her black jeans, her bright yellow half sleeve shirt with the black jersey still over it, and she had on one black sneaker. Her right leg was in a cast.

"Sweetie, how exactly did your leg get broken? They called and told me you were being taken to the hospital for your leg, but they didn't tell me how it happened." Dawn asked.

"We were playing soccer in P.E. I was a captain and so was Amy. We were winning the game and I stole the ball from Amy...again, and she was mad. I passed the ball and Amy tripped me up." Julia explained. "I somehow landed on my right leg. My whole weight fell on it and it hurt so badly."

"She really does need to leave you alone." Dawn said, sighing.

"Oh...I think she will after what happened today." Julia said with a small laugh.

"What do you mean?"

"She got taught a lesson."

Ash saw that Julia's eyes looked at Alex for a second.

"What?"

"Alex...he, umm...hit her. She was bullying me. Plus, she had caused it. I couldn't do anything."

Alex glanced at his dad to find that Ash was looking at him with a look that read, "We'll discuss this later."

After talking for a little while longer, Ash and Alex had to go.

"You'll be better in no time, Julia." Ash said as he put his hand on the door handle.

"Bye, Julia. Get better soon." Alex said.

"Bye, Mr. Ash. Bye, Alex. Thank you for coming to see me." Julia said.

"Bye, Dawn, Johanna." Ash said.

"Bye," Alex said bowing his head.

"Goodbye, Ash and Alex. It was nice to meet you both. I can see why Julia talks about Alex so much." Johanna said.

"Bye, Ash. Bye, Alex." Dawn said.

Once Ash and Alex were back in their house, Alex tried to get out of the conversation he was dreading.

"Alex..." Ash said, making the boy stop in his tracks.

Alex sighed and walked to the living room where his dad was. "Yeah?"

"Sit,"

Alex sat down on the couch and waited.

"Why did you hit that girl?"

"She was bullying Julia. I had to stand up for her. I don't like seeing my friends being treated the wrong way. Dad, I didn't even see it happen. I only felt it. My anger got the best of me and I couldn't control myself."

Ash shook his head and muttered, "You definitely have your mother's temper."

Then he faced his son and said, "Alex, don't let your anger get the best of you. I don't want you to get kicked off of the hockey team or kicked out of the school. Do you want that?"

"No,"

"Okay, just stand up for Julia, but no fighting. Got it?"

"Got it,"

"Good, now what do you want for supper?"

* * *

**Don't forget to send suggestions, because we need them for Ash and Dawn and the kids. We'll put your ideas in, or try to, so don't be scared to send one.**

**Please R&R**


	5. Chapter 5

**XashXdawnX – We hope you all like the new chapter of Two Broken Hearts. Enjoy and thanks lots for the suggestions.**

**PokemonFreak90 - Thanks for all of the suggestions that you readers are giving us! We really appreciate it!**

* * *

Alex sat in Miss Vickers' class, listening to the conversations of the other kids. It wasn't his fault that they were talking loud enough for him to hear. Today, Julia was supposed to come back to school, her first day back since she broke her leg. Alex had overheard some of his classmates saying that Amy deserved what had happened to her. And sure, they tease Julia. But breaking her leg on purpose? That was low.

It seemed that people didn't like what Amy had done, but was that true?

Miss Vickers was writing on the board and Alex was looking from the clock to the door and then to the board.

A clank was heard, and coming through the door was Julia on crutches, which she seemed to be having a hard time with. The bell rang and Julia sat down, leaning the crutches against the table, but they fell down. Alex hopped up and leaned the crutches against the back wall.

"Good morning, class. Now, before we begin, I want to welcome Julia back. Julia, I hope you are feeling better and if you need help, just ask." Miss Vickers said.

A girl who was know as Grace shot her hand into the air. She had light pink hair done up in a bun.

"Yes, Grace?"

"Can we all sign Julia's cast before class starts?" she asked.

Miss Vickers looked to see that all of her class had markers lying beside their pencils.

"Yes, you may all sign her cast. Are you okay with that, Julia?"

Julia gave a small nod. Adam hopped up and wrote his name on her cast first. As a line formed and Julia's classmates signed her cast, they said things that shocked her.

"You didn't deserve this. It was mean, even for Amy." Dasia said as she signed her name.

"Get better, Julia." Oliver said.

"Amy went way too far this time." said Trey.

"We'll all be here if you need us. We made that decision during P.E. on the day that you broke your leg." Grace said softly and gave a small smile. She then gave Julia a comforting hug, which Julia returned.

Once everyone was done with signing their names and a few hugs were given by some of the girls, class started. As Julia listened, she couldn't help but smile. It seemed like the bullying from everyone in her class was finally going to end. Everyone seemed to be her friend now, not just Alex. She wasn't alone anymore.

"Okay, I want you and your partner to work on page twenty in your English workbook." Miss Vickers said.

Alex and Julia started to work until Alex said, "Oh, I'm going to come over every day after school to visit and keep you company until your leg is better."

"Really? Thanks, Alex." Julia said with a small smile.

Alex nodded his head and stared at the sentence in front of him. "Umm..." he trailed.

Julia laughed and helped Alex figure out what part of the sentence didn't belong.

"You may go to P.E. Alex, please stay behind for a minute." Miss Vickers said after a while.

Alex glanced up at her, shocked. He got up and handed Julia her crutches. Grace walked to their table.

"I'll walk with Julia, Alex. Don't worry, we'll all make sure that Amy doesn't try to mess with her." Grace said.

Alex just nodded his head. Julia hobbled along behind Grace, who was chatting away. Alex stood awkwardly, not sure why he was asked to stay.

"Alex, come here." Miss Vickers said as she sat down behind her desk.

Alex walked towards her desk and stopped in front of it. "Yes?" he asked.

"Alex, I'm concerned about what happened when Julia's leg got broken. You punched Amy in her nose." she said, placing her hands on her desk.

"I didn't mean too. I just...my anger." Alex said uncertainly.

"Yes, and that's what I'm worried about. Alex, your anger made you hit a girl. What happens if you get angry at someone again? You could hurt someone else."

"It won't happen again."

"You don't know that, sweetie. I just want to try and help you so that your anger won't get the best of you."

"I don't get angry often. My dad says it's rare when I do."

"Yes, I understand. But if you get angry again, just count to ten and take a deep breath."

Alex gave a small nod.

"You may go to P.E. Have fun,"

Alex walked out of the classroom and towards the gym with his hands in his pockets. Alex walked into the gym to see that a game of basketball was going on. He saw Julia sitting with Trent, the two talking. He knew that Julia couldn't play because of her leg. He saw Gregg, who gave a nod in greeting before getting the ball from someone on the other team. Alex then spotted Amy, who was sitting on the opposite side of the gym with her friends. Amy was one of the "popular girls" in school. He noticed that a bandage was on her nose and her face was a little swollen. He then realized that he had hurt her more than he thought and Miss Vickers had had a good reason to talk to him.

He suddenly felt awkward and alone. He didn't want to play basketball, since it had already started. He wasn't really sure what to do.

* * *

It had been a week and a half. Julia's cast would be coming off in about a month, since it had now been on for a week or so.

"Hey dad, I'm going over to Julia's." Alex said as he walked into the kitchen.

_He's always been over there since her leg was broken. I think I'll go over today and visit. I'm bored here by myself when he's over there with his friend._ Ash thought to himself.

"Okay. Well, I'm gonna visit them, too." Ash said.

"Cool,"

Pikachu hopped onto Ash's shoulder and the two made their way to Dawn and Julia's house. Alex knocked on the door, and after a few minutes, Dawn opened the door.

"Hi Alex. Oh! Hi, Ash." she greeted, slightly shocked with seeing Ash there, too.

"Hi, Miss Dawn." Alex greeted.

"Hey Dawn," Ash greeted.

Dawn stepped aside and let the two into the house.

"Julia is in her room." Dawn said.

Alex nodded and ran up the stairs. Ash glanced at Dawn to see that she that wore a flowing skirt that went to her knees that was white and a yellow sleeveless top with no shoes. In her hand was a bottle with red liquid. Wine.

She saw Ash looking at the bottle. "Umm, would you like a drink?" she asked. "I was just about to have one."

Ash remained quiet.

"There's wine and some beer. My mom has a friend who gives her wine and beers. I don't like beer, though." Dawn said awkwardly.

"Sure, I'll take a beer." Ash said.

Dawn walked to the kitchen and grabbed a beer from the fridge and walked back to the hall.

"You can come in, Ash. Make yourself at home." Dawn said, laughing softly as she handed him the beer.

He followed her to the living room and sat down in one of the chairs while she sat on the couch, pouring herself a glass of red wine.

"So Ash, our kids are really close, yet we don't really even know each other that well." Dawn said, starting a conversation.

"Very true," Ash said as he took a sip of the beer. "Well, you work, don't you? What do you do for a living?" Dawn had mentioned work, but he didn't know what she did.

"Well, I work as a photographer. I work with anyone. Famous, not famous, old people, babies, all that."

"Really, you're a photographer?" Ash asked, slightly shocked.

Dawn took a sip of wine from her glass. "Yes, when I was younger, I wanted to be a fashion photographer. As I travelled on my Pokemon journey, I took some pictures and saw pictures that were just so pretty on the covers of magazines. I wanted to do that as a career once my days as a coordinator were over."

"So do you work for a magazine, too?"

"If the pictures are put into the magazine, then yes. My pictures have been put in magazines before. Some very popular ones, even. I'm sort of freelance."

"Well, that's really cool. I admire a woman who can take care of herself. Could I see one of your pictures?"

"Thank you. And sure, I'll be right back." Dawn stood up and walked to the hall. She returned after a moment with a picture frame in her hands.

"The good thing about being a photographer is that I don't have to pay for pictures. I can take them myself and print them." Dawn said as she sat down.

She handed the picture frame to Ash. "This is Julia, last year after a soccer game."

The picture was so realistic. You could see every little detail. Julia's hair was pulled into a ponytail that was falling out, a few stray hairs clinging to her sweaty face. You could see the dirt on her face from where she had most likely fallen and gotten dirty and rubbed her face, the wrinkles in the shirt and the dirt and grass stains on her socks. You could even see the sun's rays and know which way the sun was facing when the picture was taken.

"Wow." was all Ash could say.

Ash handed Dawn back the picture and she placed it on the table.

"So as the Pokemon Master, I assume you've travelled on a journey before, like me?" Dawn asked.

"Yes, I've travelled all of the regions. I travelled through Sinnoh back when I was in my early teen years and that's when I won the Pokemon League. I had a friend with me, too."

"I was in Sinnoh the same time, traveling for the first time. It was so fun. Oh, I know! Pikachu should meet my Pokemon. They're in the backyard."

Dawn walked to the back door and opened it. "Hey guys, this is a friend's Pikachu. Be nice,"

Pikachu went and joined Piplup, Buneary, Pachirisu, Mamoswine, Infernape, and Torterra.

"You mentioned that you travelled with a friend, didn't you?" Dawn asked as she entered the room again.

"Yes, I travelled with my friend, Brock." Ash replied.

"What did you do when you won the league?"

Ash thought for a few minutes. "I was really happy that I had won. I returned home and that's when my girlfriend - who I later married - and I started to date..." Ash said, stopping suddenly as painful memories flashed through his eyes.

"But she passed away, didn't she?"

Ash looked at Dawn, slightly shocked. "How do you know what happened to her?" Ash asked.

Dawn frowned slightly. "Alex told Julia what had happened and she told me."

"Oh...well, Julia told Alex and he told me what happened with you and your husband." Ash said softly.

_Well, no point in hiding it now._ They both thought.

"Well...I guess there's no reason to hide it now. Would you like to know?" Ash asked.

Dawn opened her mouth, but closed it. She wasn't sure what to say.

"I can tell you. After all, it came up the first day I met you.

"It was wintertime and my wife and I were driving. The road was slick and it was probably about mid afternoon, almost night. The car slid off the road and flipped upside down and fell into a ditch."

Dawn gasped and looked at Ash with a small frown on her face.

"I was able to get out, but I was bleeding badly. I almost died. I couldn't even process much, but I managed to call an ambulance in my state. I called out, trying to get my wife to answer me. When she didn't reply, I thought she was just unconscious."

Dawn took another sip of the wine she had as Ash drank some more of his beer.

"The ambulance arrived and the only thought racing through my mind was, 'Please be okay'. I don't know what caused this, but I was able to look at the driver's side of the car and it was totally crushed. Misty...she was crushed to death. She was pronounced dead at the scene. The paramedic told me and I just I lost it. I was so hysterical that they had to sedate me before taking me to the hospital.

"I can only imagine what Alex felt like when he found out. I didn't want to tell him. I didn't know how. I woke up to find Alex sitting in a chair in my hospital room with my mom. He looked up and saw me awake. He had a lost look in his eyes. He said I looked horrible and asked what happened. He then asked why he couldn't see mommy. My heart broke when he said that."

Ash sighed and closed his eyes. "A doctor came in and heard his last question. The doctor looked at me and seemed to see my face. He sighed and walked over to check on me. Alex asked the doctor and the doctor replied with a lot of tears. Alex's face showed confusion, but Alex was smart. He put the pieces together and realized what had happened.

"Alex, he started to cry, but that didn't last long. This caused his anger, this caused his anger to get out of control. He swung at the doctor, but the doctor left. So he punched the wall instead. Alex begged me to tell him that the doctor was lying, but I couldn't lie to him. I told Alex that mommy was gone and not in pain anymore.

"For the longest time, I couldn't get Alex to do anything. He would stare at pictures of her, he would cry himself to sleep, he broke a few things in his room when his anger reached its peak, he wouldn't even play sports anymore. He was broken. He lost some friends, since he distanced himself and he was treated differently, too."

Ash sighed. "I came to Sinnoh to start fresh. I wanted us both to forget the bad memories and have a new beginning, away from Pallet Town. That's why I moved here." Ash said, finishing the story.

Dawn looked upset at what she had just heard. "That's terrible. No one should ever have to go through that." she said, softly.

"What about you? What's your story?" Ash asked after a minute of silence.

"Well, my husband and I were childhood friends. My mother told me that it wasn't a surprise when we eventually fell in love. Then we got married and Julia was born." Dawn explained.

"We were a happy couple while Julia was one, two years old. When she turned three, things started to go wrong. We started to distance ourselves and we disagreed a lot."

Dawn traced the top of the glass with her finger. "We had a lot of arguments. Julia...she had to grow up hearing them and seeing her parents acting differently from her friends' parents. When she was six...that's when it all went wrong.

"It was an argument that made it all go wrong. A stupid little argument. The argument quickly become a bad one and he couldn't take it anymore. He stormed out of the house and disappeared for a few days. He returned home one night with divorce papers."

Dawn drank the last of her wine.

"I knew it would be for the best. Our fighting had scared Julia. I would see her poking her head around the door frame with a scared look in her eyes. I knew it would be the best for me and her, so I signed the papers and he did, too. It was then finalized and he moved away somewhere. After that, I changed my last name back to my maiden name, Berlitz. And I gave Julia my last name, too."

Dawn sighed and looked at the photo. "I kept my wedding ring on for a few months after it all happened, but the love that was there between us once before had vanished and the ring only reminded me of the fights, the pain I felt, and Julia being frightened. I knew that I had to stop fooling myself and let go, so I destroyed my ring. It was crushed into as many pieces as my heart was."

Dawn sighed and placed her hands on her lap. "Julia's bullying started when 'Bring Dad to School Day' came. She had to face it alone and the kids asked where her dad was, since some of them had met him. She didn't know what to do, so she said that he had left. The bullying started after that and has followed her ever since."

"I'm sorry,"

"It's fine, it's all in the past. The bullying has finally stopped, thanks largely to Alex. He stood up for her when nobody else would."

"He has a strong sense of courage, and has the ability to stand up for what's right. I think he's learned how to act more calmly since we moved here. He's also opened up to people again."

"Well, it looks like they're both acting like their old selves again."

Dawn looked towards the stairs. "Speaking of which, they've been awfully quiet." she said, standing up.

She and Ash walked up the stairs quietly and towards Julia's room. The door was open and they looked inside. Julia was lying on her bed, napping. Alex was asleep on the floor. There were some markers and paper on the floor with some drawings on them. It was clear to see that the two of them had been drawing together.

"They must've been exhausted." Ash whispered, smiling at the napping children.

"Julia's been taking naps almost every day after school since she broke her leg." Dawn explained. "Walking on crutches is tiring work for her."

"Alex said that he had a busy day at school today. No wonder he's tired. They look kinda cute napping there like that."

"Yes, they do."

Ash quietly walked into the room and picked up Alex, leaning him against his chest. "I think we'd better get home. It's almost supper time." he whispered to Dawn.

"Yes, I'd better start making supper for Julia, too." Dawn agreed. "I'll walk you to the front door."

Just before Ash left, he looked at Dawn and said, "You and I both lost someone that we love. We may feel lonely, but remember that neither of us are alone. We still have our children to hold on to...and to love. We have to keep going, keep moving forward for their sakes."

"Thank you, Ash. Those are some good words of wisdom." said Dawn.

_I feel bad that Julia has no father now and that the bullying happened. Dawn shouldn't have had to gone through that. Two people should never fight that much. At least she's away from it all now. _Ash thought.

_I knew his story would be sad, but I didn't expect it to be that heartbreaking. The both of them...having to go through that. It's a shame. Ash needs a friend and Alex does, too. They can't be hurt again. I think he feels better, now that he finally has that off his chest. _Dawn thought.

* * *

**Please R&R **

**And keep sending suggestions.**


	6. Chapter 6

**XashXdawnX - Well here's another chapter. Sorry for the long wait. We hope you all like this chapter. Please send suggestions.**

**PokemonFreak90 - A lot of you have been sending in requests for us to have Ash and Dawn go on a date and for the kids to "help them along" in their growing relationship. We plan to do both of those things in the story, but we need more specific information.**

**So please send in suggestions for dates that Ash and Dawn could go on, and how Alex and Julia could help their parents fall in love.**

Chatter was everywhere, coming from all of the tables in the cafeteria. The aroma of food filled the air, but as good as it smelled, it didn't taste that great.

Alex and Julia sat at one of the many long, light gray tables, Julia's crutches resting against the table. Julia poked a white glob on her plate and made a face.

"What is this?" she asked, poking it again.

"I think it's mashed potatoes." said Alex.

On Alex's plate was mashed potatoes, a few chicken nuggets, and an apple with an open milk carton beside it. On Julia's plate was mashed potatoes, chicken nuggets, and grapes with a water bottle by her tray.

"It's runny, though." Julia said, laughing.

"Well, mine aren't. Yours are weird." Alex said, laughing.

At that moment, Grace and Isla approached the table.

"Hey, can we sit with you?" Grace asked, holding her tray.

"Sure," Julia said as Alex nodded his head.

Ever since Julia's classmates had stopped bullying her, Julia was slowly becoming her old self again. She was being herself, acting as she did when she was at home, and people were still adjusting to the change.

Isla and Grace sat down. Grace had straight, light pink hair and it reached down to her shoulders, dark brown eyes, and she was slightly tanned.

"Hey Isla, where's Trey?" Julia asked as she dipped a nugget into her ketchup.

"Trey got sick last night. It wasn't pretty." Isla replied with a small shudder.

"Aw, well tell him that I hope he feels better soon."

"I will, Julia. I promise."

"Hey, when does that cast come off?" Grace asked, motioning to Julia's leg.

"Two to three weeks." Julia said.

"Yay!"

"Not 'yay!' It's way too long!"

"She's dying from doing nothing." Alex joked.

"Haha. Very funny, Alex." Julia said.

Grace and Isla laughed and a silence fell over them.

"Oh, Julia, I can't come and visit you this weekend." Alex said suddenly.

Julia looked at him, slightly confused. "Why?" she asked.

"A hockey game. We're the away team so we have to travel to another town."

"Oh..."

"Hey, I can visit you, Julia." Grace said.

"Yeah, me too." Isla piped up.

"Really?"

They nodded their heads.

"I'll ask my mom, but I know she'll say yes."

* * *

Julia, Grace, and Isla were in Julia's room. Julia was sitting on her bed with her leg propped up, Grace was sitting at the computer chair, and Isla was sitting on the floor with a sketch book in her lap. Bags of chips were beside them all, along with a drink. The three had been hanging out for a few hours and had only eaten junk food and laughed at nothing.

"You know what we should do?" Grace said suddenly as she rested her elbows on her knees.

"What?"

"We should do makeovers. My friends and I do it every time we hang out. It's really fun."

"No! Nope. Nada. Not happening." Julia said, shaking her head.

"I gave Trey a makeover one day...it didn't turn out well. I saw my mom putting makeup on one day and tried it on Trey. I made him into a clown." Isla said.

Julia and Grace started laughing and couldn't stop for a while. They finally calmed down enough to talk.

"So are you in?" Grace asked.

"Umm...I don't know." Isla said.

"Come on, please?" Grace begged.

"Okay, I'll do it."

Grace looked at Julia.

"No!" she cried.

"Please!"

Julia shook her head.

"Come on, Julia. It's just makeup." Grace said.

Julia sighed and muttered to herself. "Fine."

"You'll love it! You can even pick if we should do serious makeup or clown makeup."

"Oh, okay then. I'm in! I choose clown." Julia said, smiling.

"Oh, how I knew you would say that. Does your mom have makeup?"

Julia nodded her head.

"MOM!" Julia yelled.

Both girls covered their ears and looked at Julia in shock.

"Wow...didn't know you could be that loud." Grace said.

Dawn appeared in the doorway. "What?" she asked.

"Do you have some makeup that you don't use? Unopened makeup?" Julia asked.

"Yes, I have some. Why?" Dawn asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We're going to do clown makeovers." Grace said.

Dawn laughed softly. She knew how this was going to end up. "Okay, as long as you let me get a picture of this."

"Sure,"

"I'll go get it. Be right back,"

"Why does she want a picture?" Isla asked.

"She's a photographer."

Dawn returned and gave the makeup to the girls. After about an hour or an hour and a half, they were done. Grace had brightly colored eyeshadow all the way up to her eyebrows, blush all over her cheeks, and bright red lipstick all over her lips and above and below her lips as well.

Julia had multiple colors on her eyes with a streak of black from above her eyebrow to her cheek bones, blush all over her face, making it pink, and lipstick like Grace's.

Isla had bright eyeshadow all over her eyes, stopping above her eyebrow and on her bottom eyelid, blush on her cheeks, and lipstick like the others.

They looked at their reflections and started laughing uncontrollably.

"Hey, pull your hair into a weird style." Grace said.

They grabbed some bands and pulled their hair up. Julia's hair was pulled into multiple ponytails, Grace had her hair in two ponytails that weren't pulled all the way through and were uneven, and Isla pulled what she could into a small, weird ponytail.

"MOM!"

Dawn knew that they were done since there was so much laughter and since Julia had called again. Dawn walked up and saw the three. "Well, don't you three look cute." she said, smiling.

"Yep! I'm so wearing this look to a dance." Grace said, laughing.

"Oh yeah, me too. I love it!" Julia said, smiling.

"Same here! It's so pretty." Isla added.

Dawn laughed softly. "Ready?" she asked.

Grace and Isla hopped onto Julia's bed where she was. The three were in a group and looked at Dawn.

"Serious, happy, what?" Julia asked.

"Silly then happy. I'm going to take two pictures." Dawn said.

The three made a silly pose and then smiled as the pictures were taken.

"Well, it's done. You three need anything?" Dawn asked as she picked up her makeup.

"No thanks, mom."

Dawn nodded and left with the makeup.

"So what do you guys like?" Julia asked.

"I like dressing up, I love watching contests for the pretty dresses and the amazing moves." Grace said.

"I love to draw." Isla said.

"So...I take it you want to be a coordinator, Grace? Isla, do you want to be a Pokemon watcher?" Julia asked.

"Yeah! Coordinator all the way! Your mom was my inspiration. At home, I have pictures of different gowns that I want to wear when I'm old enough to be a coordinator." said Grace.

"I think so. I love to draw and I have many drawings of Pokemon. What do you like, Julia?" Isla asked.

"Well, sports and contests. I want to be a coordinator just like my mom. I'm going to travel one day and I'll reach my dream." Julia replied.

"Me too. I want to go on a journey and become a coordinator." Grace said.

"Maybe we could travel together? We may even be rivals."

"I'd love to travel with you!"

Soon it became a game of twenty questions. The questions ranging from favorite color, favorite book, to least favorite subject, least favorite thing, and even most embarrassing moment.

"...And then I fell into the pool." Grace finished. She had just explained how her sixth birthday party ended. She had tripped and got her dress dirty, then the cake had been rigged to blow in her face when the song ended (thanks to her wonderful older brother Luke). She then started to cry because of that, and the yelling of her parents fussing at Luke, and then she ran and fell into the pool after tripping.

"That had to suck." Isla said.

"Well, I did get laughed at, but it blew over...though Luke still teases me." Grace said.

"Wanna watch a movie?" Julia asked.

"Yeah, what have you got?"

Julia named off movies and after a five minute fuss, they settled on Tangled.

* * *

It was now Monday. Alex and Julia sat at their table, since the bell hadn't rung yet.

"So how did the game go?" Julia asked.

Alex frowned slightly. "We lost. It was pretty bad, too."

"How bad?"

"Nine to four..."

"Who did you guys play?"

"The Infernapes,"

Julia thought for a few minutes. "They've won a lot...I think they are the champions."

"They are, and they have been for the last three years."

"Oh...they're that good?"

"Yeah, our coach said that they're the strongest team in Sinnoh."

"Hmm...I've never seen them, only heard of them."

"Do we even have a chance of winning the championship? Even if we win against every other team, they'd still eventually beat us."

Julia just shrugged. "I think that you guys are a good team."

"Thanks,"

**Please R&R**

**And remember send in suggestions**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: All rights for Pokémon and its respective trademarks go to Satoshi Tajiri, Nintendo, Game Freak, et al.**

**XashXdawnX- Here's another chapter for TBH we hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

Alex sat at his desk with his head resting on his arms. He glanced at the clock to see that school didn't start until at least ten more minutes. His dad had been called in by the league earlier than normal, so Alex was here earlier. Miss Vickers sat at her desk grading papers while the other kids talked.

Alex glanced at the door to see Julia walking through the door on her own two feet without her crutches.

"You got your cast off." Alex said as Julia sat down.

"Yep! I'm so happy! I can play again!" Julia cried.

After school, Alex and Julia walked out of the front doors and saw their parents' cars.

"Hey, we should go to the park." Julia said.

"Really?" Alex asked.

"Yeah! I haven't gotten to play in over a month. You ask your dad and I'll ask my mom."

"Okay. Bye, Julia." Alex said as he walked towards his car.

"See ya, Alex." Julia said.

After both kids had asked their parents, the four were walking down the sidewalk towards the park. Piplup and Pikachu were with Ash and Dawn. It was now October and Ash and Alex had been in Sinnoh for about a month now. The leaves were golden and red and some of them were scattered the ground. This October was a cold one, so the four of them were wearing coats.

Once they arrived at the park, Alex, Julia, Pikachu, and Piplup ran off to go and play. Ash walked over to one of the park's benches and sat down. Dawn joined him shortly afterwards.

Dawn removed her camera from her purse and put it around her neck.

"Do you carry that everywhere?" Ash asked, starting a conversation.

Dawn glanced at him for a moment and then at her camera. "Well, of course. You never know when something picture perfect or something worth remembering will happen. Plus, I get to work on my job and have pictures ready in case some magazine asks me to shoot pictures. They like to see your work before they hire, after all." Dawn explained.

"I take it you've captured a lot of memories with your camera?"

"Yes, so many wonderful memories. Julia is in almost all of them."

Ash smiled, seeing that Dawn was a mother who cared about her daughter, even though he's seen it with the short time period he's known her.

"What would your favorite memory have to be with Julia?" Ash asked.

Dawn looked at him and sighed. "That's a hard one, Ash. Let me think for a moment." she said, leaning her back against the bench. She bit her lip as she thought.

"I would have to say my favorite memory would have to be...when Julia turned one year old. I mean, I was happy to have a child. When she turned one, she was just so adorable. It was her first-ever birthday and I made her a special cake just for her. A chocolate cake that was smaller than her high chair tray.

"I had my camera ready. The family sang to her even though she had no idea what it was. The cake was placed in front of her and..." Dawn laughed as she recalled the memory. "She went face-first into her cake! She grabbed cake into her small hands and raised her head up. She was covered in cake and she happily ate it, making an even bigger mess."

Ash chuckled softly.

"By the time she was done, Julia was covered in cake, along with the tray and floor. She was a little cake monster." Dawn said, finishing the story.

Ash just smiled. "That's a good memory to keep."

"Yes, and I captured the look in her eyes as the cake was in front of her, the face-plant, and the result all on my camera. It's even on my wall...well, the result picture, anyways."

A small silence passed over the two.

"What's your favorite memory with Alex?" Dawn asked.

Ash put his hands behind his head. "Hmm...I would have to say his last hockey game back in Pallet Town, when he was the only first grader on the team." Ash said.

"Hockey game? Oh right, Julia mentioned Alex played hockey and had a hockey game." Dawn said.

"Being the only first grader on his team, the other boys didn't really accept him at first. But he quickly proved that he was one of the best, since he could outrun any boy on the team. He lead the team in goals that year, but in the championship game, he had scored nothing. The opposing team knew of his skill and were trying very hard to stop him all through the game, and it was working.

"But with just two minutes left and the score tied 4-4, he got the ball on his stick at the center of the gym, singlehandedly pushed through two players from the other team, and scored the winning goal, giving Pallet Town its first ever hockey championship." Ash concluded.

"Wow, that sounds exciting!" Dawn exclaimed.

"It was. I've never seen him that happy in all of his life."

"I've never seen a hockey game before. Maybe I'll have to come and watch Alex play sometime."

"Well, he's playing his next game next weekend. Maybe you and Julia could come with me and watch?"

"I'd love to! And I'm sure Julia would love it, too."

A small silence passed between the two again.

"You know, Ash...I think you're a really great guy. You've raised Alex well. He's like a mini you. He has your personality to a 'T', which is great." Dawn said.

Ash looked at Dawn, slightly shocked. "Err...th-thanks, Dawn. Really,"

"No problem,"

"Well, I think you're a great mom, Dawn. After what happened, you've stayed strong for Julia. You've both helped each other. You have a great personality, which has been passed to Julia." Ash said softly.

"Thank you, Ash." Dawn said, staring at him with a peaceful expression on her face.

Although neither of them admitted it to the other, both Ash and Dawn were beginning to feel a connection between them at that moment.

Just then, Alex and Julia ran over to their parents, interrupting their moment.

"Mom, come and play." Julia said, grabbing her mom's hand.

"Yeah, dad. You should play, too." Alex said.

"Okay, okay. Let's go!" Dawn cried.

She ran with Julia and Ash stood up, watching the way Dawn acted. Ash grabbed Alex and tossed him on his shoulder.

"Put me down!" Alex cried as Ash walked over to where Dawn and Julia were.

Dawn was talking to Julia about something and Julia laughed and nodded her head. Alex hit Ash's back, trying to get him to put him down. Ash knelt down and put Alex on the ground, who was red-faced again.

"Will you ever learn?" he asked.

"Yeah...I will." Alex said.

Julia ran over and whispered something to Alex. Alex laughed and nodded his head.

"Dad, your shoe is untied." Alex said, pointing to Ash's sneaker.

Ash knelt down to tie his shoe, and when he finished, he was knocked off balance and fell to the ground. Alex and Julia had ran and knocked him down and were not getting up any time soon, since they were on the ground laughing. Dawn was laughing too, and had her camera up.

"Really? You're supposed to be on my side, not theirs!" Ash cried, looking at her and her camera.

Dawn laughed and shook her head. "Sorry?"

The kids finally got up and Ash stood up with dirt and grass covering his back. Alex glanced around and saw a tree nearby and took off, running towards it.

"Alex!" Julia cried.

Alex jumped up and grabbed the lowest branch and started to climb the tree.

"Hey, mom? I can climb the tree, right?" Julia asked, facing her mom.

"I don't know...you just got your cast off. I don't want you to hurt yourself again." Dawn said.

"Man..." Julia sighed.

"How about if she sits on the lowest branch?" Ash asked.

"I guess she can do that..."

"She'll be fine, Dawn. I promise," Ash said.

Ash knelt down in front of Julia. "Hop on, Julia. Your carriage awaits." he said.

Dawn laughed at Ash's horrible royal voice.

"Really?" Julia asked.

"Yeah, come on. I won't drop you."

Julia wrapped her arms around Ash's neck and he stood up.

"Coming, mom?" Julia asked.

"Yeah, I'm coming!" Dawn cried, since Ash had ran off.

Dawn ran after Ash and Julia, smiling to herself as Julia laughed happily. Julia hadn't laughed that much with any adult other than herself since her father left. Dawn was able to get a picture as Ash turned around with Julia still on his back.

"Wow...Alex is up pretty high." Dawn said, looking at where Alex was in the tree.

"You guys look the same. You aren't like little ants." he said.

Ash let Julia grab the lowest branch and she sat on it.

"Thanks, Mr. Ash." she said.

"Hey, dad...you know what would be fun?" Alex said as he started to climb down.

"Alex, be careful." Ash said.

"I am, dad."

"What would be fun?"

Alex jumped down and slapped his dad on his arm.

"Tag! You're it!"

Ash laughed and helped Julia down and Julia and Dawn ran from Ash. Ash was able to get Julia, who got Alex, who got Ash again.

Ash stopped to catch his breath and saw that Alex and Julia had taken cover on the playground, knowing that Ash would have a hard time getting them. Dawn was catching her breath and looking at him. Ash smirked and ran towards Dawn.

She took off running and went around the swings. Ash was gaining on her quickly. She looked behind her and saw that Ash had almost caught up to her. She ran around the tree and stood behind it, catching her breath. She stepped out and looked around for Ash. She didn't see him, but Alex and Julia were still on the playground talking to one another.

She felt arms wrap around her waist and she let out a shriek as she was picked up and spun around.

"You're it." said Ash.

Dawn's feet were placed back on the ground and she looked at Ash. "You scared me half to death!" she cried.

Ash just smiled and laughed and she laughed after a minute as well. They were having fun, after all.

The two walked towards the playground where Alex and Julia were. It was getting late and they needed to get home and get supper started.

"Julia, we have to get home. It's getting late and we have to have supper." Dawn said.

"Same for us, Alex." Ash said.

Alex and Julia looked at their parents and stood up. They ran to the slides, slid down, but stopped in the middle of the slide.

"Alex!"

"Julia!"

"No! We don't want to go home yet! We want more time to play together!"

Dawn sighed.

"Well, why don't you two come over for supper?" Ash asked.

"Oh, I don't want to bother you, Ash." Dawn said.

"It's no problem, Dawn. After all, I owe you for inviting Alex and I over on the day we moved in. I was planning on ordering some takeout. You two like Chinese food?"

"We love it."

"Well, we can pick some up when we head back to the house."

"Sounds like a plan." Dawn said as she walked to the end of the slide. "Hey Julia, we're going to have supper with Alex and Ash."

The two came sliding down the slide.

"What are we having, dad?" Alex asked.

"Takeout. We're going to pick it up on the way home."

* * *

The four sat in the Ketchum's living room with a takeout box in front of them, watching a movie. Once they finished, Alex and Julia went into Alex's room.

"Oh, look at the pictures that I took today." Dawn said as she sat down next to Ash.

Ash scrolled through the pictures. One with him with Alex and Julia on his back, him and Julia, and some with just the kids by themselves.

"Want to take a picture of us?" Dawn asked.

"Sure, why not? Today is worth remembering." Ash said.

Dawn held the camera out and Ash and Dawn took a picture of themselves together. Dawn looked at the picture with a smile.

"I had fun today. Thank you for inviting us for supper." Dawn said as she stood up.

"No problem at all. I had fun today, too." Ash said.

"You know, Ash...that's the first time Julia has laughed with a grown-up that wasn't me. Thank you for treating her so well."

The two walked to Alex's room to find Alex and Julia close to falling asleep.

"You two look exhausted." Dawn said.

"We are..." Alex mumbled.

Julia was sitting on the floor with her head bobbing slightly. "I'm tired, mom..." Julia mumbled.

"I know, sweetie." Dawn said.

Julia stood up and looked like she was going to fall asleep.

"Tell them bye, Julia." Dawn said.

"Bye Alex, Mr. Ash. Thank you," Julia said as a yawn followed.

"Bye Julia, Miss Dawn." Alex mumbled.

Ash looked at Julia, who was half asleep. He walked into Alex's room and looked at Julia.

"Come on," he said softly as he knelt down.

Julia hopped onto his back and Ash kept a hold of her arms to make sure that she wouldn't fall off.

"Ash, I could have taken her." Dawn said.

"It's fine, Dawn. She's exhausted and I don't want you to hurt yourself."

The two walked to Dawn's house and Dawn let Ash in. They walked to Julia's room and Ash placed Julia on her bed.

"Thanks, Ash." Dawn said softly.

The two walked out of Julia's room.

"You're welcome, Dawn. I should get back."

"Bye Ash, and thanks again."

"Bye Dawn, and thank you."

******Please R&R**


	8. Chapter 8

******Disclaimer: All rights for Pokémon and its respective trademarks go to Satoshi Tajiri, Nintendo, Game Freak, et al.**

**XashXdawnX- Here's the newest chapter and we hope you enjoy. Which you probably will.**

* * *

Chatter and laughter filled the cafeteria as all of the students ate. Julia thanked the lunch lady and made her way to the tables, looking for Alex. She spotted him sitting at a table with two other boys, so she made her way over to them.

Alex turned, saw her, and motioned her over. She put her tray down and sat down, smiling.

"Julia, this is Alan and Anthony. They're in our grade, but Mr. Thomas is their teacher." Alex explained.

"I'm Alan,"

"And I'm Anthony."

Alan had blonde hair that was falling in his eyes, dark brown eyes, and he was tanned. He was wearing a green pullover hoodie, from what Julia could see. Anthony had short dark brown hair, dark blue eyes, and he was pale. He had on a plain white tee.

"Well, it's nice to meet you. I'm Julia," Julia greeted.

"Nice to meet you," they said.

"Oh, yeah. Julia, we have a hockey game today after school. It's against the Riolus. Everyone in school is invited to stay and watch if they want." Alex said.

"Oh, really? I'm gonna stay, I wanna watch. I haven't seen you play hockey before."

"Awesome! We've got another second grader supporting us." Anthony said.

"Huh?"

"We all play on the hockey team. Anthony and I are on the same line with Alex," Alan explained. "I play Right Wing, Anthony plays Left Wing, and Alex plays Center."

"Oh."

"Yeah, we're known as the 'Triple-A Line', since all three of our names begin with 'A'." said Alex.

"That's really cool."

* * *

The school day ended and Julia walked to her car.

"What's with all the cars?" Dawn asked as Julia opened her door.

"There's a hockey game. Can I stay and watch?" Julia asked as she put her bag in the car.

"Sure. In fact, I'm going to watch it, too. I've never seen a hockey game." Dawn said as she got out.

"Yay! Thanks, mom!"

The two walked in and looked for an available seat on the bleaches.

"There's Mr. Ash," Julia said, pointing.

Indeed, Ash was sitting there with a few open seats around him. They sat down beside Ash and he looked at them.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Hey,"

After a short wait, the players were about to come out.

"Okay everyone, give it up for our own Weaviles!"

The Weaviles ran out from one of the rooms. Their jerseys were black with red and silver stripes around the waist and elbows. The name "Weaviles" was on the front written in a thriller-type writing that was white with a Weavile's face underneath it. On their backs were their last names and their numbers in white. They also all wore helmets, sneakers, and gloves. All of which were black.

"There's Alex!" Julia cried. Alex was in the middle with Alan and Anthony running beside him. She could tell it was him because the name "Ketchum" was on the back of his jersey.

"Go Alex!" Julia and Dawn cried.

"You've got this, Alex!" Ash yelled.

Alex looked up, faced them, and gave a nod. Julia noticed that the Triple-A Line all had 9's in their jersey's numbers, too. Alex being 9, Anthony being 19, and Alan being 99.

* * *

A little while into the game...

"...And Ketchum has the puck. He's going for the goal..."

Alex was getting closer and closer to the goal.

"Looks like Graham isn't going to let him by. What will he do?"

Alex faked a hit and pushed past the boy in his way and passed the puck to Anthony, who was coming in on the left. Anthony faked left and shot high on the goalie. The puck went over his shoulder and into the net!

"Williams scores for the Weaviles! The Weaviles have one while the Riolus have zero."

"Alex's good at basketball and soccer, but his hockey skills? Wow." Julia said.

"He plays really well, Ash. I bet you're proud." Dawn said.

"I am. This is his favorite sport, by far." Ash replied.

The game continued on into the second and third periods with the Weaviles winning by one goal, since it was two to one.

"They're playing well. I think the Weaviles have this in the bag." Julia said.

"I think so, too." Dawn said.

"You never really know, but both teams are playing at their best." Ash explained.

* * *

"It's down to the final minute of the game! Ketchum has the puck! Now Fletcher has the puck!"

Alex was once again running towards the goal with Alan and Anthony closely beside him. He passed it to Alan and Alex pushed ahead of the boy in his way. Alan passed the puck back to Alex. Alex shot the puck right into the net!

"And Ketchum scores!"

The buzzer buzzed and the game was over.

"The Weaviles win! The final score: three to two. Good job both teams and thanks for coming out, folks."

Dawn, Julia, and Ash walked out of the gym and waited for Alex to come out. Alex walked out and saw them.

"Good job, Alex. You were amazing." Dawn said.

"Good job, Alex. You played your best and your hardest. I'm proud of you." Ash said.

"Way to go!" Julia cried and hugged Alex. She then blinked and quickly pulled away, remembering that Alex didn't like hugs.

"Eh...sorry, Alex." she said.

Alex laughed and hugged Julia. "It's okay. We've become such good friends that I don't mind hugs anymore." Alex said.

Julia laughed and hugged back with a smile.

Dawn smiled at the scene in front of her. "I really am glad that she has a friend like Alex." she said, looking at Ash.

"I am too, Dawn. He's finally opening back up. He allowing others to hug him. Thank you..."

* * *

Ash and Alex were walking across the street to the Berlitz household for Thanksgiving dinner. Alex knocked on the door and they waited.

Julia opened the door and smiled. "Hi! Come on in and Happy Thanksgiving!" she cried.

"Hey, and Happy Thanksgiving to you, too." the boys replied.

Ash closed the door as Alex and Julia ran ahead. Ash found Dawn in the kitchen with a small frown on her face.

"So, what do you need help with?" Ash asked.

Dawn jumped, slightly startled. She hadn't heard Ash walk up behind her.

"Thank you, Ash. I could use a hand." Daw hadn't cooked this much food for this many people in a long time.

Together, the two started to cook the food for supper. A small turkey, a ham, cranberry sauce, a mixture of vegetables, and homemade bread.

Ash had just finished opening the cans that needed opening and he looked at Dawn. She stood on her tiptoes trying to reach a pan that was on the top shelf of her cabinet. She jumped, but was still too short. Ash chuckled to himself and walked behind her and reached the pan.

"This one?" he asked, since there were other pans up there.

"Yes, thanks." Dawn said, taking the pan from him. Dawn had to admit, she liked having Ash around to give her a hand. There were a lot of things around the house that she had trouble doing on her own. And Ash seemed happy to help her when needed.

Dawn started to make the bread while Ash prepared the food that could be cooked quickly.

* * *

"And now it's all done." Dawn said, brushing a stray piece of hair from her face. It would've been impossible to prepare all of this without Ash's help. She was starting to realize and understand how Julia felt about Alex, since Alex helped Julia with a lot of things, just like how Ash helped her.

The table was set with the food.

"Where did the kids go?" Ash asked.

"Outside, at least that's what Julia told me." Dawn said as she walked to her backdoor and called them inside.

Alex and Julia ran inside and saw all the food.

"Well, it all looks yummy." Julia said, smiling.

Alex and Julia went and washed their hands before returning. They all sat down and waited.

"Julia..."

Julia nodded her head. "I'm thankful for my mommy, Alex; my best friend, and Mr. Ash. I'm also thankful for the school year and for all the bullying stopping." Julia said and smiled happily at Alex.

"I'm thankful for my dad, Julia; my first friend in Sinnoh, and Miss Dawn." Alex said.

"I'm thankful for my daughter; Julia, my Pokemon, and for the wonderful people I've met this year: Ash and Alex." Dawn said.

"I'm thankful for my son; Alex, my Pokemon, and for meeting both of you, Dawn and Julia. And also for our new beginning here in Sinnoh." said Ash.

As they ate, Julia said something unexpected. "All of us sitting together and spending Thanksgiving together almost feels like we're all a family."

"You're right," Alex agreed. "I haven't felt like this since before my mom passed away."

After they finished eating, Alex and Julia went to Julia's room. Once again, Ash insisted on helping Dawn with the dishes and this time she didn't protest as much. Since Ash had done a great job helping her in preparing dinner, she knew he would be a big help this time as well.

"Those go up there, where you got it from." Dawn said as she handed Ash the last of the dishes, which happened to be the pans from the top shelf.

They were finally done and both of them were exhausted. Ash turned back around and saw that Dawn was pouring a glass of wine, which probably meant that she was going to sit back and relax for a while.

"Want some?" she asked.

"Sure,"

Dawn poured another glass and passed it to Ash. She then walked out of the kitchen and to the living room. When Ash walked in, he found her kneeling in front of a cabinet, looking at movies. She put in a movie and got the remote.

Ash sat down on the couch and took a sip of the wine. He wasn't a huge fan of wine, but he had to admit that this kind wasn't half bad.

Dawn sat down next to Ash and took a sip of her wine, before placing it on the table.

Halfway through the movie, Dawn leaned against Ash so she could stretch her legs out. She was laying against his side, since his arm was across the back of the couch. Both of them seemed to be very comfortable with this.

_This feels...right. _Dawn thought. _Curling up on the couch with Ash, a glass of wine, watching a movie._

She glanced at Ash from the corner of her eyes. She felt something, an emotion inside of her that she couldn't explain, but she shook her head. _I think I've had a little too much to drink._ She looked at her glass to see that it was still almost full. _Or not..._

Ash couldn't help but feel something, too. Something was happening to his emotions. _She sure is something else._ He looked at Dawn and a small smile formed on his face. _Dawn is really easy to be around. Am I fa- No. No, it couldn't be._

The movie then finally ended. Both glasses had been finished off, too. Ash walked up to Julia's room to get Alex, not wanting to yell. He found the two playing a video game.

"Hey Alex, it's time for us to go." he said.

Alex looked up briefly and Julia cheered. Alex snapped his head to the television to see that he had lost.

"Oh, come on!" he cried.

"That's five to three." Julia said laughing.

"Haha. I'll beat you next time." Alex said.

The two stood up and walked downstairs with Ash.

"Bye, Miss Dawn, Julia. Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving." Alex said.

"Bye, Alex. I hope you had fun. Happy Thanksgiving," Dawn said.

"Bye, Mr. Ash, Alex. Happy Thanksgiving," Julia said.

"Bye, Julia and Happy Thanksgiving." Ash said.

Alex and Julia hugged goodbye and Ash and Dawn said goodbye.

**We hope you've enjoyed this chapter. Be sure to keep reading because in the next chapter, Ash and Dawn are going to go on their first date!**

**If you have any suggestions for what the date could be or what they could do, please let us know!**

**Please R&R**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: All rights for Pokémon and its respective trademarks go to Satoshi Tajiri, Nintendo, Game Freak, et al.**

**XashXdawnX - Here is the chapter you all have been waiting for. We hope you enjoy. **

**PokemonFreak90 - Well, you all wanted it, so here it is! Ash and Dawn's first date.**

It was a cold day, the first day of December. It was colder than normal, since it had snowed the night before. The snow wasn't enough for school to be cancelled, but it was enough for kids to be able to have fun. It was recess and all of the kids were enjoying the snow.

Julia and Grace lay on the ground, making snow angels together. Julia was dressed in a cream-colored jacket that fell to her knees and it was a button-up jacket, a white long sleeve shirt was under it, and she had jeans on with furry cream-colored boots. She had white gloves on her hands and a white hat. Grace was wearing a similar jacket to Julia's, except her jacket was green with a white plaid design. She had a black turtleneck under her jacket with jeans and furry boots. She had a green scarf and a black hat on, too.

After making a few snow angels, they got chilly and stood up. But as Julia stood up, a snowball hit her and she fell to the ground. Julia looked up to see Amy laughing at her, along with one of her friends, who was named Carmen.

"Guess she can't leave me alone." Julia muttered. Looks like Amy's bullying hadn't stopped for good just yet.

"She'll learn. Besides, not many people like her now." Grace said.

Julia sat in the snow, just looking at the two. Amy and Carmen carried on with their laughing and suddenly, snow fell on top of them from the tree that they were standing under. They cried out as the cold snow hit their skin that wasn't covered and sent chills through their bodies.

Alex jumped down from the tree and landed on his feet. He walked over to Amy and Carmen. "Stay away from Julia. I punched you once and I'll do it again if I have to defend my friends. So leave her alone." Alex said. He actually wasn't going to punch her, though. He knew he would get in trouble for it. He just said it to get her to back off.

Amy just stuck up her nose and walked off with Carmen following her like a lost puppy.

Alex adjusted the beanie on his head. Alex was dressed in a black jacket with a yellow shirt under his jacket, jeans, and black lace-up boots that kept the snow out. He also had on his favorite beanie and black gloves on.

Alex held his hand out for Julia and helped her up. She dusted the snow from her body and looked at Alex.

"Thanks, Alex. You wanna make a snowman with us?" Julia asked.

"Sure!"

The three walked over to a place where no one was playing and begin to build the snowman. Alex climbed one of the trees and broke off two twigs to use for the arms.

"Those are perfect for the arms." Grace said as Alex stuck them into the sides of the snowman.

Julia stuck a rock in the middle of the top snowball for the nose.

As they were looking for things for the eyes and mouth Grace said something shocking. "You know what? You two are always together and always helping each other and always looking out for one another. It's almost like you're brother and sister!"

Alex and Julia both stopped what they were doing and looked at Grace in shock. Nobody had ever told them that before!

Then the bell rang, signalling that recess was over.

"Aww. We didn't finish him." Grace said, frowning at the snowman.

"A shame..." Julia said distractedly.

"Yeah..." Alex mumbled.

The students made their way back to their classes.

* * *

It was now lunchtime and the cafeteria was giving the students hot chocolate. Every kid had a cup of hot chocolate to keep them warm on the snowy day.

Alex and Julia sat at a table by themselves. Julia twirled her pasta around her fork, but she didn't eat it. Alex stared at the cup of hot chocolate. The weren't that hungry, since they both had Grace's words on their minds.

Julia put her fork down quickly and looked at Alex. "Remember what Grace said to us at recess? About us being brother and sister?" she asked.

Alex looked up from the cup of hot chocolate. "Yeah. It's been on my mind all day. What about it?"

"Well, what if we actually were brother and sister?"

"Huh? But how does...Aaahhh! I see."

"That's right. I only have a mom and you only have a dad. We need to get them together."

"And have you seen how they act and look at each other when they're together?"

"Yes. I think that they already sort of like each other, but they don't know it yet. I think we just need to give them a little push in the right direction."

"How do we do that? You have a plan?"

"Yes. We need to get them to spend some time alone together, without us. Like a date."

"But what about us? They won't leave us alone at home while they're out."

"We need someone to stay with us. Hmm...maybe my Grandma Johanna could babysit us?"

"That could work. I guess we could give this a shot. So what do we say to our parents to get them to go out?"

"Okay, here's what we'll do..."

* * *

Ash was walking from room to room with Alex following him.

"Come on, dad." Alex said as Ash walked into the living room.

"What gave you this crazy idea?" Ash asked as he looked everywhere but at Alex.

"Please, dad. I can see something between you and Miss Dawn. Dad, you and her are so comfortable being around each other. You're acting like your old self again. Like how you used to be before mom died. I think that you feel something special inside yourself when you're together."

Ash looked at Alex and was completely shocked. He knew Alex was smart and caught onto things quickly, but who would have thought that this would be something that he noticed?

"You come up with crazy ideas. I'm just being friendly to her." Ash said, trying to hide his feelings.

"A friendly dinner." Alex said simply. "It doesn't have to be all romantic."

_Alex is right. I do feel something special when I'm with Dawn, but I can't be certain if it was the wine talking, a spur-of-the-moment, or if it was really something more. I could find out for sure if I ask her for this date. Hmm..._

Ash looked at Alex and Alex knew right then that he had convinced his dad. The plan was working!

"I'll be back in a few minutes." Ash said.

"Okay, see ya." Alex said.

Ash walked out of the house and to the Berlitz household. Once Ash was out, Alex did a little victory dance. "The plan is working!" he cried.

Ash rang the doorbell and waited for the door to be answered. The door opened to reveal Dawn.

"Oh, Ash! Come on in, it's freezing out there." Dawn said, stepping aside to allow him to enter.

"Thanks," Ash said as he stomped his boots on the floor mat before entering.

"So what brings you here?" Dawn asked.

"I was just wondering if you would...like to out for dinner? Just as friends."

Dawn thought for a few minutes. _If I do this, I could figure out if what I felt the last time I was with him was something special and not just a spur-of-the-moment._ Little did she know that Ash had thought the exact same thing while talking with Alex.

"Yes, I would like that. I can get my mom to watch the kids."

"Well, I'll be over at around five to drop off Alex and then we can head to the restaurant. Is that fine with you?" Ash asked.

"Yeah, that's fine with me."

Ash nodded his head and walked back to the door. "See you later, then."

"Bye,"

* * *

Alex sat on the couch, waiting for his dad to finish. He still couldn't believe that the plan was working, he just hoped that things would go as planned.

"So, does this look okay?" Ash asked as he walked into the living room.

Alex looked at his dad, who was dressed in a black long sleeve shirt, light jeans, and black shoes. He had a jacket in his hands.

"Yeah, that looks fine, dad." Alex glanced at the clock to see that it was four fifty. "What time are you and Miss Dawn going out?"

"Five, why?" Ash asked.

"It's almost five."

Ash grabbed his keys and the two headed over to the Berlitz household.

Julia lay on her mom's bed as she watched her mom get ready. Dawn stood in the bathroom that was connected to her room, fixing her hair and adding a bit of makeup. She walked out of the bathroom and into her room.

She was dressed in a black turtleneck with light blue jeans and black boots that reached her knees. Her hair was long and straight and she had put on a little bit of eye shadow with pale pink lip gloss.

"You look nice, mom." Julia said.

"Thanks, Julia..." said Dawn. She then paused as a nervous look came over her face.

"Are you okay, mom?" Julia asked, noticing her mom's nervousness.

"Yes. I'm fine, sweetie."

"When is grandma getting here?"

"What time is it?"

"Four...thirty."

"Then she should be here soon."

"Okay,"

After about five minutes, the doorbell rang and Johanna was waiting outside.

"Oh hey, mom. Come on in." Dawn said, stepping aside and allowing her mom into the house.

"Thank you, dear." Johanna said as she removed her cream-colored coat.

Dawn took her mother's coat and hung it in the closet.

"Grandma!" Julia cried, hugging her.

"Hello, Julia!" Johanna said, hugging her back.

The three sat in Dawn's living room watching one of Julia's favorite cartoons.

"So what time is Ash coming over?" Johanna asked.

"Five. Are you sure you can handle both of them?" Dawn asked.

"Dawn, don't worry. I watched you when you were younger and I also had your friends who always came over. I'll be fine. Two seven-year-olds are nothing compared to four little kids."

"Mom, it's five." Julia said, since her cartoon had ended.

The doorbell rang and Julia hopped up and ran to answer the door.

"Are you a little nervous?" Johanna asked.

Dawn remained silent. She was, in fact, a little nervous, since she hadn't gone out with anyone since before she got divorced.

Footsteps approached the living room and there was Julia with Alex and Ash.

"Good to see you again, Johanna." Ash said.

"Same here, Ash." said Johanna.

Ash knelt down to Alex's level and told him to behave himself.

"I'll be good, dad. I promise." Alex said.

"You'd better be good." Ash said, standing back up and ruffling his hair.

He looked at Dawn. "Ready?" he asked.

"Y-yeah, ready." Dawn said, standing up.

She followed Ash and grabbed her white button down coat and slid it on. The two made their way to Ash's car. Ash opened Dawn's door for her and then got in.

After a small drive, they arrived at the restaurant. The two got out and walked inside. A waitress that appeared to be in her late thirties with dark brown hair and light pink eyes greeted them.

"Welcome! I'm Felicia and I'll be your waitress. Just two?"

"Yes," Ash replied.

"Follow me, then."

They were seated in a booth and Felicia handed them the menus.

"I'll be back in a few minutes for the orders." she said and walked off.

Ash and Dawn both looked at the menus, deciding to get that out of the way. Dawn skimmed over everything and bit her lip. She was so nervous. Her last date had been forever ago. She hadn't been on one since before her divorce.

Felicia returned and removed a notepad. "Ready?"

"I'll have the steak with french fries and sweet tea." Ash said.

"I'll have the grilled club with salad and water." Dawn said.

Felicia wrote the food down and walked off.

"So Ash, you mentioned that you travelled Sinnoh around the same time that I was there on my journey. What was it like from a trainer's point of view?" Dawn asked, striking up a conversation.

"Well, it was interesting. I can tell you that much." Ash said. He thought for a few moments. "I had a major rival named Paul who was tough to beat. Then there was Barry, who was strange, but smart when it came to battles."

Dawn giggled slightly. Dawn slowly felt her nervousness leaving her. She realized that she was very comfortable around Ash. She could be herself, and Ash was easy to talk to and get along with.

"What are gym battles like?" she asked.

"Well, it's similar to contests, except there's only battles, no performances. And we battle for a badge, instead of a ribbon."

Felicia returned and placed their food on the table and she quickly left. The two started to eat and Dawn brought conversation back.

"Who would you say had to be the toughest gym leader that you faced in Sinnoh?" she asked.

Ash thought for a few moments. "That's a hard one. Every gym leader is tough in their own way. If I had to choose, though, I would say Fantina."

Dawn thought for a moment. "I should have guessed that. Fantina uses Ghost types, but she also uses contest moves in her battles. She loves contests and even judged at some contests that I participated in."

"What about you and your journey?" Ash asked.

"Well, I didn't exactly have the best luck when I first started. I was so tempted to just give up and return home. My mom was a Top Coordinator and I wasn't living up to my expectations. I was ashamed to be the daughter of Johanna Berlitz, scared I was putting shame to her name." Dawn said, taking a sip of her drink.

"Don't give up just because of a little bump in the road. Those bumps make you stronger." Ash said.

"Yes, that's what I learned. My rival gave me the encouragement to keep going and so did my mom." Dawn paused for a few moments. "After a while, I started to have some luck. I was winning and my rivals were keeping me on my toes. Loses made me sad, but I remembered the advice and kept my head up. I went all the way to the Grand Festival and won."

"That's like me. I was able to win the Pokemon League. Sinnoh is where it all began."

"Well, becoming the Champion is a lot of hard work and keeping the title is hard work, too. I would say that you did a good job of making your dream come true, Ash."

"Thanks, and I would have to say the same to you, Dawn. You might not participate in contests anymore, but you made your dream come true. Your name is very well known and you inspire many people to follow in your footsteps. Like Julia and her friend Grace, for example."

Dawn looked down at her food, hoping her face wasn't red. She looked back up at Ash with a small smile. "Thank you,"

_I haven't smiled like this for a while. I feel so happy when we're together. Something is happening. My feelings for him are changing, but I don't know if it goes that far._

Ash took a sip of his drink. His thoughts were everywhere, but mainly focusing on what he was feeling.

_That feeling of everything feeling right is back again. Alex is right, I do feel something special inside when I'm with her and I do care about her, but is it that far?_

After a little while longer, they both finished their food and left the restaurant after paying.

They arrived back at the Berlitz household and Ash opened Dawn's door for her.

"Thank you, Ash." she said, getting out.

Ash closed the door and followed Dawn to her porch. He decided to take a chance and take things one step further to really see if his feelings for her went as far as he thought.

"Dawn?"

"Yes?"

"...May I give you a hug?"

"Sure,"

They gave each other a friendly hug under the cold night sky.

Ash began to feel something more for Dawn._ This feels right, holding her in my arms. I haven't felt like this since the last time I hugged Misty before she died. Is this...love that I'm feeling?_

Dawn's heart skipped a beat or two. _Wow, I didn't know that a friendly hug from him would feel like this. Am I...falling for him?_

The two broke apart and Dawn unlocked her door and the two walked in.

"Mom, we're back." Dawn called. She hung her coat up and found Johanna sitting in the living room, watching TV.

"They're upstairs. They were talking about a rematch of some sort." she said.

Footsteps were heard and Alex and Julia appeared.

"Ready to go home?" Ash asked.

"Yeah,"

"Thank you again, Johanna. Good night, Dawn, Johanna, and Julia." Ash said.

"Good night," Alex said.

"Not a problem, and good night." Johanna said.

"Thanks for taking me out. I had a great time tonight." Dawn said.

"You're welcome, Dawn. I had a good time, too." Ash replied.

Johanna seemed to notice how the two of them were acting. _There's something developing between them. I can tell._

Ash and Alex then left to go back home. In his mind, Ash was thinking, _Well, I was hoping to use this date as an opportunity to see if there really was something special in the feelings that I have for Dawn, and it turns out that there is. These feelings go a lot deeper than I thought._

Back in her house, Dawn was thinking, _Well, this date proved that Ash and I do have a special connection and it might be more than just friends. So many thoughts in my mind. Maybe my mom will be able to help me collect my thoughts._

**We hope you enjoyed the chapter and liked the date Ash and Dawn went on. Let us know if you have any suggestions for more dates that they could go on!**

**Please R&R**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: All rights for Pokémon and its respective trademarks go to Satoshi Tajiri, Nintendo, Game Freak, et al.**

** XashXdawnX- Here's another chapter for TBH.**

Dawn walked out of her room, now dressed in her pajamas. Since her date had just ended, she didn't have anything to do, and what was better than to just relax? Dawn walked into the kitchen and fixed a cup of hot chocolate and a cup of coffee.

"Hey, mom?" Dawn called.

"Yes?"

"Can I talk to you?"

"Of course, Dawn. You can talk to me about anything."

Dawn added sugar and cream to the coffee before walking into the living room with the mugs.

"Here," Dawn said, handing her mom the coffee.

"Thank you, dear."

Dawn sat down on the couch and took a sip of the hot chocolate.

"What do you need to talk about?" Johanna asked, setting her mug on the table.

Dawn sighed and placed her mug on the table. "I have so much on my mind, mom. There are things are on my mind and...I don't know what to do." Dawn said, looking at the ceiling.

Johanna knew her daughter had more to say, so she waited.

"These thoughts and feelings all came after my date with Ash...after our hug outside." Dawn sighed and looked at her mom. "I don't know what it is, but I haven't felt like this since before I got divorced."

Johanna turned to face her daughter. "Dawn, look at me." she said. Dawn turned and looked at her mother.

"Dawn, I can see that there's something developing between you and Ash. Honestly, Dawn, you seem truly happy for the first time since the divorce. Sure, Julia makes you happy, but this is the first time that I've seen you happy with someone other than your daughter."

"Really?" Dawn asked.

"Yes, Dawn. I looked at the recent pictures that you took." Dawn opened her mouth, but her mom cut her off. "You left your camera out, so of course I was going to look." she said, smiling.

"I looked at the pictures and what really caught my eye were the pictures from the park a couple of months ago. Dawn, you had a few pictures with Ash and Julia. Julia looked very happy, the happiest I've seen her since her father went out of her life. Dawn, the picture of you and Ash, you both look truly happy together."

Dawn remained quiet.

"Dawn...how does Ash make you feel?" Johanna asked.

"Uh...he makes me feel happy. I don't have to act like someone I'm not when I'm with him, I can be myself around him. He accepts me for who I am, he's easy to get along with, he never fails to make me smile, and I never know what to expect when I'm around him. Even Julia seems to enjoy it when he's around." Dawn answered.

"You do know what it is that you're feeling, right Dawn?"

Dawn looked at her mom with her eyes wide. "Yes..." she trailed with uncertainty. "Mom...I'm scared. What if this doesn't work out and it ends the same way that it did for Kenny and I? I don't want to be heartbroken again...and I don't want to be hurt again. I thought I had the man that I was going to spend my life with once already, but you see how it turned out for us."

"Dawn, take a breath."

Dawn took a small breath and waited for her mom to speak. Johanna took Dawn's hands.

"Dawn, things - both good and bad - happen for a reason and sometimes you don't know why the things that happen, happen. The divorce could've been Arceus's way of leading you to who you should REALLY be with, to spend your life with. Sure, it's a pre-started family, but that just adds to what could happen. Arceus is watching over you and he has a plan for you. Just go and see where this path in life takes you, Dawn. Don't be afraid of the feelings that you have for Ash. Don't be afraid of where this could lead. Give it a chance, sweetie."

Dawn nodded her head. "You're right, mom. I shouldn't be afraid. I should listen to my feelings, follow my heart, and trust what Arceus has planned for me. Thank you, mom. You've really helped me." Dawn said, hugging her mother.

"No problem, dear. I'm happy to help."

* * *

It had been a few days after Ash and Dawn's date. They had planned to take the kids to Lake Verity - where the Legendary Pokemon Mesprit was said to live - to have a fun day of skating on the frozen lake.

Alex was wearing black jeans, a light blue long sleeve shirt with a white tee over it, and a gray jacket. He had his black beanie back on his head and his hockey stick in his black-gloved hands. Playing floor hockey in school was fun, but playing it on ice? Even better.

Julia was wearing white leggings under her jeans with a light pink turtleneck and a white jacket. Her hands were covered by pink and white gloves, she had a white scarf around her neck, and on her head was a pink hat.

Dawn was wearing black leggings under her jeans like Julia, with a black turtleneck and a white jacket with fake fur on the cuffs and hood. She had a black scarf on her neck and black gloves on her hands. She carried two pairs of skates in her hands.

Ash was wearing jeans with a navy tee pulled over a white long sleeved shirt and a black jacket. He had on a beanie and black gloves on his hands. He also carried two pairs of skates in his hands.

After walking through the snow-covered ground, they walked into the clearing of Lake Verity. There were many families skating on the huge frozen lake, a game of hockey was going on, many couples skated together, and younger children skated around until they fell and got right back up.

Once the four had their skates on and laced, Alex motioned towards where the game of hockey was going on.

"Some kids from school are playing hockey. I'll be over there, okay dad?"

"Go have fun, Alex." Ash said. He kept his eyes on Alex until he got to where the game was.

"Oh! There's Isla and Grace!" Julia cried. Julia looked at her mom, who nodded. Julia skated over towards the two. Dawn smiled as Julia was greeted by two hugs from the girls.

Alex and the other boys were having a good time. The boys skated along, pacing a puck and making a point of getting the puck stolen from them. There was the occasional fall and accidental trip, but all in all, they were all having a good time. Alex was talking with Alan and Anthony.

"I hate winter, but at the same time, I love it because it lets us do this. Play hockey on ice." Anthony said happily.

"I agree with ya, buddy." Alan said.

Alex nodded his head and went to move, but he slid and fell to the ice. He laughed as he got up and chased after the puck again.

Grace, Isla, and Julia were skating in a row of three, chatting happily.

"Don't you just love winter?" Grace asked as she did a small spin with her arms spread wide.

"No. It's too cold. I just like the way it looks." Isla said as she nearly lost her footing. She wasn't much of a skater.

"I like the winter, just wish it wasn't this cold. This is the coldest winter we've had in a long time." Julia said as she glanced around the lake to see what was going on around her.

Isla then slipped on the ice and fell clumsily. Julia and Grace each held out a hand to help her up and Isla grabbed Julia's hand with her left and Grace's hand with her right. But instead of getting up, a smirk appeared on her face and she yanked both of their hands, pulling them down, and the three girls fell into a heap on the ice.

Getting up off of each other, they just sat on the ice, looking at each other for a second, thinking about Isla's little prank. Then they all broke out into laughter over the whole thing. Being such good friends, they couldn't be mad at each other. Then they all hugged each other in a big group hug.

Seeing that their kids were having fun, Ash and Dawn decided to start skating. Dawn easily started to skate, but she saw that Ash was having a little trouble.

"Can't skate?" she asked, skating over to him.

"I can skate. I just...it takes a little while to get used to the ice since I only skate once in a while in the winter." Ash replied as his foot slid.

Dawn laughed, creating a small puff of steam in the cold air. She skated to Ash's side and took his hand. The two skated around the lake with everyone else, both enjoying themselves.

"This is really fun. It looks like Alex and Julia are having a good time." Dawn said.

"Yeah..."

Dawn removed her hand from Ash's and skated a little ways ahead of him. She glanced at him from over her shoulder to see that he was skating alright and then faced ahead again. She dug her skate into the ice as a little boy skated in front of her. She didn't hit him, but she lost her balance trying to stop and started falling. She felt an arm wrap around her waist, which kept her upright.

"That would've hurt." Ash said, holding her.

"Yeah, it would have. Thank, you Ash,"

A middle-aged woman skated over to the two. "I'm so sorry about my son. I told him to be careful, but he didn't listen." she said.

"It's fine, no harm done." Dawn said with a small smile.

The woman nodded and skated off. Dawn noticed that Ash still held her waist and her face felt warm. Ash seemed to notice that he still held her waist.

"Sorry..." he said, letting her go.

Dawn looked at him and gave a small smile before taking his hand and began skating again.

* * *

Alex skated away from his friends, since many had to leave and the game was basically ending. He saw that Julia was hugging Isla goodbye and Isla skated off. Grace must've already left, since she was nowhere in sight. Julia looked around and saw Alex and skated over to him.

"Hey, Alex! This is so much fun!" she cried as she stopped.

"Yeah, it is. Playing hockey on the ice, it never gets old." Alex said.

Julia looked around and her eyes landed on something. "Look!" she cried.

Alex looked to where she was looking and he felt his eyes widen. "Wow...our plan is working better than we thought." he muttered.

The two saw that Ash had his arm around Dawn's waist and quickly removed it as they started skating.

"I still can't believe our plan to get them to go out on a date worked. How easy was it to convince your dad?" Julia asked.

"It took a little time, but once I said a few things, it was in the bag." Alex replied.

"My mom was really nervous before you two came over."

"Really? I think my dad was, too."

"I'm glad it worked out, though."

"I am, too. I so beat you in the rematch."

Julia laughed and shook her head. She started skating.

"Yeah, 'cause you cheated!" she cried.

Alex skated next to her. "How did I cheat?"

"I don't know, but you did!"

Alex laughed. "Hey, you know what we should do when we're on our way back?"

"What?"

"We should..."

* * *

After skating a little while longer, Ash and Dawn skated over to Alex and Julia.

"You guys ready to go?" Ash asked.

"Yes,"

The four made their way to the snow and removed their skates and put their boots back on. Then they started walking back towards home.

Alex knelt down and gathered some snow in his hand. He patted it into a ball. Julia knelt down and patted some snow into a ball. Alex looked at her and nodded. They threw the snowballs at their parents.

"What the...?" Ash turned and saw the two of them gathering more snow. He laughed and Dawn was already kneeling and gathering snow.

Soon, a snowball fight was going on and the four were laughing and having fun. Julia ran and fell onto the ground, catching her breath.

"I'm cold now." she said, sitting up.

"Yeah, I agree." Alex said, plopping down to catch his breath.

"Get up off the snow. Dawn, you and Julia can come over and have coffee or hot chocolate." Ash said.

"Thanks,"

The four made their way to the Ketchum house.

"So what does everyone want?" Ash asked.

"Coffee!" Alex cried.

"Hot chocolate," Julia said.

"Hot chocolate," Dawn said.

"Okay, and I guess you can have coffee today, Alex."

"YES!"

**So Dawn has a talk with her mom, who helps her clear her mind and helps her realize what it is that she's feeling for Ash. Then Ash, Dawn, and the kids relax together after a fun day of skating.**

**Be sure to stay tuned for the next chapter, because it'll be Christmas time! Give us some suggestions about what Christmas presents Ash, Dawn, Alex, and Julia can give each other.**

**Please R&R**


	11. Chapter 11

**XashXdawnX - Here's the newest chapter for TBH and it's Christmas now! Enjoy the Christmas chapter.**

**PokemonFreak90 - Thank you for all of the suggestions that you readers gave us! We hope you enjoy this Christmas chapter!**

It was Christmas Eve night. Dawn and Julia were at Ash's house, since Alex and Julia decided to have a Christmas party and invite some of their friends. Alan, Anthony, Grace, Isla, and Trey were over and all of the kids were having fun.

The Ketchum household was decorated a lot. This seemed to be their favorite holiday. The living room had been rearranged to make room for the tree, which was in the corner of the room with lights that were red, blue, green, and yellow. Alex and Julia's stockings were hanging under the television, and the ornaments decorating the tree consisted of candy canes, different colored spheres, along with a baby's first Christmas ornament, and many others. Removable stickers were on the windows, doors, and walls. The stickers varied from 'Merry Christmas!' to Santa, snowmen or snowflakes, and many others pictures. Christmas music was playing and the kids were singing along with the songs.

Ash and Dawn had gone into the kitchen to make the kids some hot chocolate and get the food ready, since they hadn't really eaten much. But they were all having fun and food was the last thing on their minds. Ash removed seven mugs and faced Dawn.

"Do you want a cup?" he asked.

"Sure," Dawn replied.

Ash removed two more mugs and fixed the hot chocolate while Dawn got some food set out. Dawn walked to get the kids so they would come and eat.

"I think it would hurt if you got ran over by a Stantler." Trey said. Laughter followed behind what Trey had just said and even Dawn laughed slightly.

"Hey, I know you guys are having fun, but you need to eat. We've got hot chocolate-"

The kids bolted to the kitchen once they heard 'hot chocolate.' Dawn walked back to the kitchen and took the mug Ash held out towards her.

The kids were eating some ham or turkey sandwiches and cookies. Once they were finished, they returned to the living room.

"So what do you hope to get for Christmas?" Grace asked.

"I hope to get some new art supplies." Isla said.

"You and art..." Trey muttered.

Isla shoved her brother and stuck her tongue out at him.

"I hope I get a new video game system." Trey said. "I hear the new Playstation 4 and Xbox One systems are good."

"You and your games." Isla said.

"I hope I get some new hockey equipment." Alex said.

"I hope to get a new dance game." Julia said.

"I hope I can get some new accessories." Grace said.

"I hope to get some new CDs." Alan said.

"I hope I get some games." Anthony said.

The song changed and Grace jumped up. "Oh, I love this song!" she cried and started to dance around the living room.

Dawn was standing in the doorway with her camera. She had been taking pictures of the kids tonight and she snapped a picture of Grace. She smiled, glad that all of the kids were having a good time.

Isla and Julia hopped up and started dancing around with Grace. The boys looked at them and laughed slightly. Once the song ended, the girls sat back down, laughing.

"Hey, is Santa even real? Because Amy says he's not." Isla asked suddenly.

"Yes, Santa is real. My dad and his friends met Santa once." Alex replied.

"Really?!"

"Yep. See, Santa's Jynx had drifted out to sea on a piece of ice that had broken off from the North Pole. My dad and his friends found the Jynx and Jynx had Santa's boot." Alex explained.

The others were listening to what Alex was saying.

"They were taken to the North Pole by a Lapras to return Jynx to Santa. Sadly, Team Rocket had captured Jynx, thinking that IT was Santa! They tied the real Santa, my dad, and his friends up and took all the presents."

"That's mean!" Grace cried.

"Yeah, it was. With the help of Lapras, they were able to get free, but Team Rocket got away after being frozen and then unfrozen. Santa's Jynx used a Psychic move and brought Team Rocket's sub out of the water and got the presents back. My dad and his friends got what they wanted for Christmas and even saw Santa fly away on his sled."

"Wow, that's so cool!"

"Oh, I almost forgot! My mom brought something for me to give to you guys and your parents." Grace said suddenly as she hopped up. She walked back with a plastic bag in her hand and sat down. "We do this at my house on Christmas day. Can you get your parents?"

"Mom/Dad!" Alex and Julia cried at the same time.

Ash and Dawn walked into the living room. "What?"

"Grace has something to give us." Julia said.

"Grace, you didn't have to get us anything." Dawn said.

"We do it at my house. My mom said it would be something fun." Grace replied. She opened the bag and removed reindeer antler headbands. "Here you go!" she cried as she passed the antlers around. Everyone took one and slid it on their heads.

"We should play Simon Says, but instead, turn it to Santa Says!" Isla cried suddenly.

"Yeah!"

Dawn told Ash something and walked off.

"Okay, Santa says stand up." Ash said. All the kids stood up.

"Santa says put your left hand up." Left hands went up.

"Hop on one leg."

Trey hopped and then laughed. "Whoops..." he muttered and went to stand by Ash.

"You can tell them something." Ash said to Trey.

"Santa says hands down."

"Santa says hug...Isla." Isla was suddenly wrapped into a group hug by all of her friends.

"Santa says release Isla."

"Dance." Alan and Isla were out. Dawn walked back into the living room.

"Spin around." Anthony was out and walked over to the others after he got up, since he had fallen from spinning.

"Sit down."

"Santa says sit down."

After a few more minutes, Santa Says ended and Grace had won.

"Hey, we have a game that you can play. It's called Ring Frosty's Hat. All you have to do it get these snowballs into the hat. You get a candy cane no matter if you ring or not." Dawn said.

A black top hat was placed on the floor and Dawn put a cup to mark where you stood. The snowballs were crumpled pieces of paper. Soon, paper was flying through the room, some ringing while most missed.

After singing more songs and eating the candy canes, it was time for everyone to leave.

"Oh, mom! Before everyone leaves, can you take a picture of us in front of the tree?" Julia asked.

Dawn nodded her head and told the kids to get in front of the tree. "Okay, say Merry Christmas!" Dawn said.

"Merry Christmas!"

The picture was taken and Dawn smiled at it.

"That's a good picture, kids." she said and let them see it.

Alan, Anthony, Grace, Isla, and Trey all said goodbye and wished a Merry Christmas before leaving. Ash and Dawn picked up the trash and cleaned up the kitchen. Alex and Julia were talking to one another.

"Well Julia, it's time we get home." Dawn said.

"Actually...we were wondering if we could have a sleepover? All of us stay here tonight." Julia asked.

"A sleepover for Christmas, and besides, we haven't had one before." Alex added.

Ash and Dawn looked at one another.

"Well, I guess it's okay." Ash said, looking at Dawn.

"It's okay with me, as long as it isn't trouble for you, Ash." Dawn said.

"No trouble,"

"I'll be back in a few minutes." Dawn said, having to go back to her house to get some pajamas for herself and Julia, as well as some clothes for them to wear tomorrow.

Ash walked to the closet and removed some blankets and made his way to Alex's room to get a bed set up for Julia on the floor. He walked back out to find that Dawn was back and had handed Julia a little backpack.

Ash realized something and walked over to Dawn. "Dawn...I have no guest room, but you can share my bed." Ash said.

Dawn was about to say something but Ash interrupted her.

"No need to worry, my bed is big so there's plenty of room, so we have our own space." he said.

Dawn nodded her head. After they all changed into their pajamas, Ash and Dawn walked into Alex's room.

"Night," Alex and Julia said.

"Night,"

Ash and Dawn walked to Ash's room and slipped into the bed.

"Good night," Dawn said.

"Night," Ash said.

Dawn turned onto her side away from Ash and shivered slightly. His room was cool, even with the heat on. Then again, Dawn was always cold. She slid closer to Ash and felt his body heat.

"Cold?" Ash asked.

"A little..." Dawn muttered.

Ash's arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer. Then he wrapped his arms around her waist.

_This feels so right, her being in my arms. She fits perfectly in my arms...the last time I held someone in my arms at night like this was the night before Misty died. _Ash thought.

_This is nice. Him holding me, keeping me close, keeping me warm. It's been a while since I felt this relaxed and calm. I wish I could tell him...how much he means to me. _Dawn thought.

The two of them unconsciously snuggled down together and soon found themselves drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Alex rolled over and the sun streamed into his room and hit his eyes. He opened his eyes and blinked. He stretched and yawned before his eyes widened. He leaned over his bed and shook Julia's shoulder. Julia mumbled something and she opened her eyes and blinked at Alex.

"What?" she asked groggily.

"It's Christmas!" Alex cried.

Julia perked up and hopped up. The two made their way to Ash's room and went to wake their parents up, but stopped. They saw that they were sleeping in each others' arms, looking very comfortable.

"It's working..." Julia said.

"The plan is a success." Alex said.

Alex knew that there was no guest room for Dawn to sleep in. He also knew that his dad wouldn't allow her to sleep on the cold couch, so she would have to have slept in the bed. The sleepover idea was a clever disguise for their latest plan to get their parents together. Their plan had worked better than they had hoped!

"Well, time to wake them up." Julia said.

"Yep!"

The two ran towards the bed and jumped onto it. Their landing caused their parents to wake up.

"It's Christmas! Get up!" they yelled.

Ash and Dawn followed the kids to the living room. Dawn made sure to get her camera. Alex and Julia sat down on the floor. Pikachu, Buneary, and Piplup came running into the living room. The tree was surrounded by many presents. Ash and Dawn sorted the presents out so it would be easier to find which ones belonged to who. The Pokemon even got a gift from Santa.

Alex and Julia started to open their gifts. Julia was estatic to get the new Dance Dance Revolution game and read the back to see what songs were included. Alex was happy that he had gotten some new hockey gear, since he was starting to outgrow his old gear. He had grown a bit since moving to Sinnoh. There were many gifts scattered around and the kids loved all of them. Movies, games, clothes, even some new sneakers, the list went on.

The kids had just opened their last gifts, which was from their grandmothers. Julia had received a blanket and a gift card that had ten dollars on it. Alex had received a gift card that had twenty-five dollars on it. Getting a gift would have costed more, so Delia had sent a card with a gift card for Alex.

It was now time for Ash and Dawn to open their gifts from one another.

Ash removed the paper and he was now looking at a large white box. He removed the lid and saw a picture of himself and Dawn. He remembered that it was the day they all went to the park and then they had takeout. He never did see the picture, only Dawn had.

Looking at it, he smiled. In the picture, Dawn was resting her head on his shoulder and Ash had his eyes looking at her slightly. Both of them had smiles on their faces. Thinking back, Ash didn't remember Dawn laying her head on his shoulder or him looking at her, but he loved the picture.

"Thank you, Dawn. I love it. I'm going to put it on the wall in my room so I'll always remember what we did on that day." Ash said, smiling.

Dawn removed the paper from her gift and a jewelry box was revealed. Dawn opened the box to find a beautiful necklace with diamonds and sapphires. The necklace was a silver chain and in the middle, there was a large sapphire that was cut into the shape of a heart, which was outlined with small diamonds going around it.

Dawn broke down, crying tears of joy. "It's beautiful, Ash. It's the best Christmas gift I've ever received." Dawn said, reaching over and hugging him.

Ash hugged her back and Dawn told him 'Thank you', and continued to cry. Ash held her, letting her continue to cry in his arms, and they closed their eyes.

Alex and Julia hugged one another, happy that their parents were happy. Pikachu, Buneary, and Piplup looked at their trainers happily.

After a few minutes, Dawn stopped crying and they pulled away as she wiped her eyes. "Well, all of the gifts have been opened now." she said, looking at the tree, which was now empty underneath.

"You two can go and play if you want. We'll start on the food." Ash said to the kids.

Alex and Julia decided to play one of Alex's new games and took off to his room to play. Ash and Dawn walked into the kitchen to start getting everything ready. Since Thanksgiving dinner was cooked by Dawn, Ash was cooking Christmas dinner for them.

"So what do you need me to do?" Dawn asked as she washed her hands.

* * *

After the food was eaten, the kids played some more and Ash and Dawn watched some Christmas movies. Eventually, it got dark outside and Dawn and Julia needed to return home. They had to call Johanna and wish her a 'Merry Christmas' before she went to bed.

Alex and Ash walked to the door with Dawn and Julia.

"This has been the best Christmas ever!" Julia cried.

"The best Christmas ever." Alex agreed.

"Yes it has," Ash and Dawn said.

"Bye, and thank you. Merry Christmas," Julia said.

"Bye. Merry Christmas," Alex said.

"Merry Christmas and thank you for having us over." Dawn said, carrying her gifts and Julia's as well.

"No problem, hope you all had fun. Merry Christmas," Ash said.

Dawn and Julia left and Ash turned to his son.

"So Alex, you know that we have to call someone." Ash said.

"Who?" Alex asked.

"Your grandma,"

"Awesome! You think Uncle Gary will be there?"

"...He might, Alex. I can't promise, though."

They walked to where the video phone was located at and dialed Delia. After a few rings, Delia's voice came through.

"Hello?"

"Hey, mom!" Ash said.

"Hi, grandma!" Alex cried.

"Ash! Alex!"

Delia appeared on the screen. Her once auburn hair had become lighter with a few silver strands, her face had some wrinkles, and she had a red turtleneck on, from what was shown. Christmas music could be heard in the background.

"Merry Christmas!" Alex cried.

"Merry Christmas, mom." Ash said.

"Merry Christmas, both of you. How was your Christmas?"

"Best one ever! Oh, thank you for the present." Alex replied.

"You're welcome, dear."

"It was a good Christmas, the first Christmas we've spent away from Pallet Town. How was yours?" Ash said.

"One moment," Delia said. A voice was faintly heard and Delia had replied with 'Ash and Alex.'

"Sorry, someone is going to say hello once I'm done. My Christmas has gone well. Alex, what did Santa bring you?"

Alex started to tell Delia what he had gotten. Delia smiled at her grandson.

"That's wonderful, sweetie." she said once he finished.

A voice was faintly heard again and Delia nodded her head.

"Someone is about to leave and needs to say hello. I'm going to let them say hello and I'll be back when they finish." Delia said.

"Okay,"

Delia disappeared off of the screen and the two were left looking at the decor.

"Hey, Ashy Boy. Alex, how've you been?"

"Uncle Gary!" Alex cried as Gary appeared on the screen.

Ash chuckled and looked at Gary. Gary was the same age as Ash, his spiked hair had been cut shorter and he had a black shirt on, from what was shown.

"To think I thought that you had stopped with the nickname, Gary." Ash said, shaking his head.

"Nope. So how are feeling since moving to Sinnoh?"

"Better," Ash said.

Gary nodded his head.

"So Alex, how was Christmas?"

"Best one ever!"

"Really? How come?"

Alex went on to tell Gary what had happened that day. Gary asked Alex some questions varying from school to friends to sports. Since they hadn't talked since the move, the two were catching up for a short amount of time. Alex really missed his grandma and Gary, but liked it here in Sinnoh and he didn't want to leave. After a few more minutes, Gary had to get going.

"Well, Merry Christmas and will we ever talk again?" Gary said.

"Yeah, we'll talk again. Sorry for not keeping in touch." Ash said, frowning. "And Merry Christmas,"

"Merry Christmas, Uncle Gary." Alex said.

Gary waved and was gone from the screen. Delia returned shortly after. The three talked for a little while and Ash realized he needed to talk to his mom about something.

"Hey Alex, I need to talk to grandma about something. Can you go and play or something?" Ash asked.

"Sure, dad."

Alex looked at Delia. "Bye, grandma. Love you." he said.

"Bye, Alex. I love you too, sweetie." Delia said, smiling at him.

Alex ran off to his room and Ash heard the door close.

"Is everything okay, Ash?" Delia asked, concerned about her son. Why did he want to talk to her alone?

"Everything's fine, I just wanted to tell you something."

"What?"

"I've...I've fallen in love with someone again. Her name is Dawn."

Delia smiled at her son. "I'm happy for you, Ash. Does she know?"

"No, I haven't told her yet. I realized how I felt about her not too long ago."

"Oh. Ash, I'm happy to see that you didn't close off your heart after what happened to Misty."

"Well, I did for a while, but I've learned how to love again. Moving here has helped me."

"I know it has."

Ash was quiet for a few moments.

"What's troubling you?" Delia asked.

"Nothing is," Ash answered too quickly.

"Ash."

Ash sighed. "I...I never realized it up until now, but it's strange being in love with someone again. Misty was the first and only girl that I ever truly loved, and now that I'm feeling the same way about Dawn, I can't help but worry that what I'm feeling is wrong. Is this really what's right for me and Alex?"

"Ash, Misty would be glad that you're moving on. She wouldn't want you to be sad and alone for the rest of your life, she would want you to be happy and she would want a motherly figure for Alex, too."

"I guess you're right."

"Is that everything?"

"Yeah, it is. Thanks, mom."

"No problem, sweetie. I'm just glad that this has happened to you. I want you to be happy as much as Misty would want you to be. Give it a chance, and remember, every relationship will have bumps in the road, so don't act upon anger, always remember to let someone explain."

"Love you, mom."

"Love you too, Ash. Have a good night."

"You too,"

The call ended and Ash looked at the black screen for a few minutes before he got up and walked to his room. There were still a lot of things on his mind, as well as some doubts about his feelings for Dawn. As he fell asleep, he began to have a very surreal dream.

**So Ash, Dawn, and the kids have a wonderful Christmas together and the kids succeed in their latest plan to bring their parents together. Pretty sneaky, huh?**

**But now, Ash is having some doubts about his relationship with Dawn. And what is this strange dream he's having?**

**Be sure to keep reading to find out! (Send us some suggestions about what can happen to Ash, Dawn, and the kids on Valentine's Day!)**

**Please R&R**


	12. Chapter 12

**XashXdawnX - Sorry for a late update, but hopefully this chapter will make up for the lateness. Enjoy!**

**PokemonFreak90 - Sorry for the long delay, but here's the next chapter!**

**Also, a lot of you have been asking that we bring Kenny into the story. We will be doing that, but not until later in the story.**

* * *

**Ash's POV**

Alex had gone into his room a few minutes ago. I got up and walked into his room to find him lying in his bed.

"Goodnight, Alex." I said.

"'Night," Alex replied.

I walked out of his room, closing the door slightly and flipping the light off. I laid in my bed, unable to fall asleep because my thoughts were on Dawn.

I knew how I felt about her, but at the same time, I couldn't help but feel guilty. In my life, I'd only loved one person, Misty, who was taken away from me so suddenly. We never broke up, we were just forced to say goodbye forever when she died. I still really missed her and I still loved her. Misty was the only woman that I swore I'd ever love...so was it wrong for me to be in love with Dawn?

I sighed and rolled onto my side. I wished that Misty was still here. She was always someone that I could talk to about my problems and she was always able to clear my head. She would know what to say to put my mind at ease. But she wasn't here anymore, so I had nobody to talk to.

I closed my eyes and eventually, sleep slowly came over me.

_"Ash...Ash..."_

I opened my eyes and looked around.

_"Ash..."_

That voice! I'd recognize it anywhere! _"Misty? Is that you?"_

A light shone and then Misty stood in front of me. She looked exactly the same as she did before she died. She had on a light blue turtleneck, white jeans, and white boots. I threw my arms around her and started crying tears of joy. It had been almost two years since I had last seen her.

_"Misty? But how? How are you here? I thought...I thought you were gone...that I'd lost you forever..."_

Misty looked at me with a sad smile. _"You're dreaming, and I'm here as a spirit." _she replied softly.

_"How am I able to see you? And how are you in my dream?"_ I asked.

Misty took my hands. _"I asked Arceus to allow me to enter your dream for one night. I could see that you were upset with your feelings and you needed guidance. After all, you always talked to me about your problems. So I asked Arceus to send me here so I could help you."_

So she knew about my feelings...well, there was no point in hiding them.

I sighed and looked at Misty. _"Misty...I've fallen in love with someone else since you died. You were my first love, my ONLY love. And when we married, I promised that I would love you and you alone, no one else. But now...I've fallen in love with Dawn and I feel like I've broken that promise to you. It makes me feel really guilty, loving someone else. But I was so caught up in my feelings for her that I never felt that guilt...until now. So if I've hurt you, I'm so sorry."_

Misty shook her head. _"Ash, I've been watching over you and Alex. I've seen the way that you act when you're with Dawn and the way Alex acts around her, too. Ash, you didn't break the promise you made to me. In fact, you've made me happy. You've made me the happiest that I can be by showing me that you can, in fact, move on from the hurtful past and carry on with your life. You've proved that the world wasn't going to end for you when I died. I'm glad that you and Alex aren't in that dark period of your lives anymore, because that's what truly hurt me. I hated seeing all of the pain that you were in over losing me. I don't want you to be sad and alone forever."_

_"...So you're not mad at me? It's okay with you if I keep following my feelings for Dawn?"_

_"How could I be mad? The only thing that matters to me is that you and Alex are happy for the rest of your lives. I can't be there for you anymore, but Dawn can. I know that you love Dawn just as much as you loved me, so I know that you'll make her very happy. Care for her and give her all of the love that you would give me if I was alive."_

_"I will, Misty. That's a promise."_

_"I have to go now, but I'll always be watching over you. Always remember me, and tell Alex that I love him."_

_"Will I ever see you again, Misty?"_

_"Yes, when your time comes like it did for me."_

_"You know...I never got to say goodbye to you before you died."_

_"Well, you can now."_

We wrapped our arms around one another and shared one long, final kiss.

_"I love you, Misty. Even though I may love Dawn as well, you'll always hold a special place in my heart."_

_"Thank you, Ash. I love you, too. I always will. May you and Alex live a long, happy life."_

Misty smiled and I closed my eyes.

When I opened my eyes, I saw that it was nine in the morning. My mind was feeling better, nothing was jumbled together and I felt like a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. My heart and mind were at ease now that Misty had given Dawn and I her blessing. Now I could really move on with my life.

I looked upwards and whispered, "Thank you, Misty."

* * *

**Normal POV**

Two months had now passed since Christmas. School today wasn't like a regular day. Today was Valentine's Day and every class was having a party. Miss Vickers' classroom was decorated with red, pink, and white hearts lining the wall, 'Happy Valentine's Day' was at the front of the room on the board, and the table was filled with snacks.

The kids were sitting, talking to one another, eating, or passing out their Valentine cards. Julia sat at her table and she had gotten quite a few cards this year. This was the most cards that she had ever received on Valentine's Day!

Grace walked up to where Julia was sitting. "Hey, here you go." Grace said, handing Julia a card.

Julia nodded thanks and handed Grace her own card. The two friends exchanged a 'thank you' hug after reading their cards. Alex then walked over and handed both of the girls a card. Julia reached across the table and hugged Alex.

"Thanks, Alex." she said, pulling away.

"You're welcome,"

Grace's face turned as pink as her hair after reading her own card from Alex.

"Thanks...Alex," Grace said softly.

"No problem,"

Grace's face turned a little more pink when Alex looked at her and smiled. Julia guessed that he had written something really sweet to Grace on the card.

Alex walked off to the snack table to get something to eat and Julia looked through her bag.

"Here it is..." she muttered. Julia walked to the front of the room to Miss Vickers' desk.

"Here you go, Miss Vickers." Julia said, handing her a card.

Miss Vickers looked up and took the card. She stood up and walked around her desk to Julia, as she read her card.

"Aw, thank you, Julia." she said, giving Julia a hug.

Miss Vickers sat back at her desk and started to rearrange her papers. Julia turned to leave to go back to where her friends were when she saw something on Miss Vickers' desk.

"Miss Vickers?" Julia asked.

"Yes?"

"Can I have one of those flyers?"

Miss Vickers looked down at the stack of flyers.

"Sure..." Miss Vickers didn't understand why Julia wanted a flyer that talked about the Twinleaf Town Valentine's Day Couples' Dance.

"Thank you!"

Julia walked to the back of the classroom where Alex was at, munching on some cookies.

"Look!" Julia cried, putting the flyer in front of him.

Alex read over the flyer. "This could work as another date for our parents." Alex said.

"Exactly what I was thinking! Who should ask who?" Julia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Your mom should ask my dad, since he asked her out the first time."

Julia nodded her head in agreement. "Well, I think my mom will love this idea! I bet she loves dancing!" Julia cried as she took a cookie from Alex's plate.

* * *

Dawn sighed and walked out of the laundry room with a pile of clothes in her arms.

"Please, mom!" Julia cried.

Dawn started walking up the stairs and into Julia's room. "Julia, this will be a terrible idea." Dawn said as she started putting Julia's clothes away.

"Why?"

"Julia, I can't dance. I'm a terrible dancer. I took classes when I was younger and quit because I have two left feet. I'm such a terrible dancer that I would embarrass myself if I went." Dawn explained as she opened Julia's closet.

"But mom!"

"No buts, Julia. I'm not going."

Julia was quiet for a few moments, watching her mom. She looked at the flyer that was in her hands. She read over the information provided and smirked to herself.

"There will be music," Julia said in a singsong voice. "Dancing, fast songs and slow songs. You would be in Mr. Ash's arms...him holding you, looking deeply into each others' eyes. Then near the end of the dance-"

"Julia!" Dawn cut her daughter off.

Julia looked at her mom innocently and said, "What?"

"Fine...I'll go. I'll go ask him, okay? Stop with those...whatever it was you were doing."

"I didn't do anything."

Dawn just stared at her daughter. "Finish putting your clothes away. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Dawn walked out of Julia's room and Julia smirked.

"Success!" she cried, doing a little cheer. She would have to use that singsong voice more often, since it worked so well.

Inside of Ash's house, he was talking to Alex. "So how was school, Alex?" Ash asked his son.

"It was fun. Today we had a Valentine's Day party and I got a lot of cards from my friends! When I gave Grace her card, she blushed so much that her face was as pink as her hair! Then again, I did try my best to write something really nice on the card for her." he answered.

Ash smiled. It sounded like Alex had a little crush on Grace.

Dawn walked through the snow and over to Ash's house. She reached the door and took a breath before knocking. "Why did I agree to this?" she asked herself.

After a moment, the door opened to reveal Ash.

"Oh! Hey, Dawn. Come on in," he said, stepping aside and allowing her inside.

"Thanks..."

Ash looked at her and waited, sensing that she wanted to say something.

"Umm...I was wondering if you...if you would like to go to a Valentine's Day dance...tonight?" Dawn asked, biting her bottom lip nervously.

_A dance? This would be the perfect opportunity to tell her how I feel about her!_ Ash thought. Ever since his dream about Misty, he had been thinking of when and where he could tell her how he felt about her.

"Yeah, I would like that." Ash replied.

"Okay...oh yeah, I'm not a very good dancer."

"No need to worry, I'll help you." Ash said with a smile.

"Thanks..."

"What time would you like me to pick you up?"

"Around seven will be fine."

"Okay, I'll see you then."

"Bye,"

Ash nodded a goodbye and Dawn went back to her home.

Dawn walked to her kitchen and dialed her mom.

"Hello?"

"Hey, mom." Dawn said.

"Hi, Dawn. Is everything okay?"

"Yes, everything is fine. Could you watch Julia and Ash's son, Alex tonight?" Dawn asked.

"Yes, of course, sweetie. The two of them are so sweet. Anytime you need a sitter, just call me."

"Thanks, mom."

"You're welcome, sweetie. So do you and Ash have another date?"

"Yes...we're going to the Twinleaf Town Valentine's Day Dance."

"Okay. Well, you two have fun. I'll be over at around five-thirty."

"Okay, thanks again."

* * *

Dawn was standing in her room, fixing her hair and adding a little bit of makeup. Since it was Valentine's Day, she was wearing a red dress that reached her knees and it had thin straps. She was currently curling her hair, since she had planned to curl it today. She curled it into long curls and then pulled it into a ponytail, pinning her bangs up. She added mascara and eyeliner, along with light pink lipstick.

Julia was looking at her mom's accessories, trying to make her mom look perfect. "Mom, you should use this pin to clip your bangs back. It's a heart, since it's Valentine's Day." Julia said.

"Okay..." Dawn removed the pin she had put in and added the heart pin instead. Dawn looked at her reflection and she frowned. She needed some jewelry.

Julia walked over to her and handed her some silver hoop ear rings, a few silver bangles, and she held something behind her back.

"I want you to put this on." Julia said.

Dawn walked over to her bed so Julia could stand on the bed to clip the necklace on. Julia fastened the necklace that Ash had given her for Christmas around her neck.

"There! Now you're ready." Julia said, hopping down from the bed.

Dawn had to admit that she did look very pretty, prettier than she had dressed in years. She slid her feet into some red flats and walked out of her room. The doorbell rang and Dawn went to answer it.

"Hey, mom. Thank you so much for watching them." Dawn said.

"No problem, Dawn. You look nice, sweetie." Johanna said as she hung her jacket up.

"Thanks,"

Ash stood in his room, buttoning his shirt. He was wearing black jeans, a red button-up shirt, and black boots. Ash glanced at the clock to see that it was almost seven.

"Hey Alex, you ready?" Ash asked, walking into Alex's room.

"Yep!" Alex cried, grabbing a backpack.

"What's in the bag?"

"Some games we're gonna play. I'm going to beat Julia this time!"

The two walked over to Dawn's house. Ash rang the doorbell and waited.

"Enjoy yourself and have fun tonight, Dawn." Johanna said as Dawn got up to answer the door.

Dawn walked to the door and took a breath before opening it.

"Hi, come on in. Julia is in her room, Alex." Dawn, said stepping aside.

Alex nodded and ran into Dawn's house and up to Julia's room.

"I'm ready to go," Dawn said.

Ash hadn't said anything so far, he just looked at Dawn. Dawn shifted slightly, feeling as if she looked horrible.

"Ash?"

"Sorry...Dawn, you look really beautiful." Ash said softly, breaking from his thoughts.

Dawn blushed and gave a small, shy smile. "Thank you, Ash."

* * *

The Twinleaf Town Convention Center was decorated beautifully. Red and pink lights blinked around the room, snacks were on the tables, music was playing, and people were having a great time.

"Would you like to dance?" Ash asked.

"Okay..." Dawn replied uncertainly.

"Don't worry, Dawn. Just follow my lead." Ash said, giving a reassuring smile.

Dawn followed his lead and after dancing to three songs, she had it down. The song ended and they walked over to the chairs to take a break. Dawn got two chairs while Ash went to get two drinks.

"Here you go," Ash said as he sat down, handing Dawn her drink.

"Thank you," Dawn said, taking the cup.

The two sat in a small silence watching everyone having a good time.

"I'm having a great time tonight and you taught me how to dance. So thank you, Ash." Dawn said, taking a sip of her drink.

"You're welcome, Dawn. I'm having a great time, too. Thanks for inviting me to come."

The dance continued on. Ash and Dawn danced the night away but the dance would be over soon. Ash and Dawn were resting once again.

"Well, we're going to slow things down a little bit, so grab a partner and hit the floor." A slow song started playing.

Ash stood up and held out his hand to Dawn. "Up for one more dance?" he asked.

Dawn smiled and nodded, taking his hand. The two joined everyone on the dance floor. Dawn wrapped her arms around Ash's neck and Ash put his arms around her waist. They danced with their bodies very close together, staring at each other the whole time.

As the song came to an end, they both felt a strong feeling inside, a feeling that both of them hadn't felt in a while.

_Now is the time to tell her how I feel about her._ Ash thought.

"Come with me," Ash said to Dawn. Ash lead her outside into the cool night air under the bright stars. Ash looked up at the stars and thought to himself, _Here goes nothing._

He took a deep breath, took Dawn's hands, held them in his own, and said, "Dawn...from the moment I met you, I knew that there was something special about you. As I got to know you, I saw what an amazing person you were. And after all of the time that I've known you...I've fallen in love with you. You helped me realize that I could still be able to love someone after the tragedy that I went through. Dawn, I love you. I love you so much."

"Ash...I feel the same way. After my divorce, I felt like I couldn't trust anyone anymore. Well, any man, at least. I didn't want to try to find love again, but something about you made me want to try. So I followed my heart and I fell in love with you, Ash. I love you more than anything in the world." Dawn said, stepping in so that she was only a few inches away from Ash.

Slowly, they leaned towards one another. Within a few seconds, their lips met in a sweet, yet passionate kiss. Their hearts flooded with joy and happiness as both of them felt their love for one another in that kiss. All of the pain that they had gone through in the past was forgotten forever.

Their love had healed each others' broken hearts.

The kiss lasted for what felt like an eternity, but their lips slowly parted after a minute. Both of them looked at one another lovingly until Ash leaned in and gently kissed Dawn's forehead. Dawn leaned her head against Ash's chest as they stood there, holding each other.

Ash looked up at the starry sky. He knew that if Misty was watching him right now, she was smiling down on him from above.

* * *

Ash pulled up in front of Dawn's house. They got out of his car and stood by one another.

"Goodnight, Ash." Dawn said.

"'Night, Dawn." Ash said.

They gave each other a chaste kiss and the two walked into her house so Ash could get Alex.

Alex and Julia were playing DDR when they heard the car doors close. Julia paused the game and the two ran over to the window. They peered out of the window to see that their parents were kissing.

"Love is in the air." Julia said with a smile.

Alex smiled and faced Julia. "My dad's not alone anymore."

"Same with my mom. They have each other now!"

"We finally got them together. Looks like our work is done."

The two hugged one another and got up when they heard the front door close. They started the game again.

"If anyone asks, we know nothing about this." Julia said.

"Nothing." Alex agreed.

**After Misty appears to Ash in a dream and gives him and Dawn her blessing, Ash and Dawn go to the dance, confess their love for each other, and are finally a couple!**

**But it seems that little Alex may have a crush of his own: Grace!**

**And yes, we decided to make Dawn the one who can't dance in this story because every other time that it's been done in a story, it's always been Ash who can't dance! We decided to do something different for our story.**

**Where will Ash and Dawn's relationship go from here, now that they're a couple? Keep reading to find out!**

**Please R&R**


End file.
